Cleveland Indians: Previewing the series against the Minnesota Twins

Probable Pitchers

RHP Shane Bieber (CLE) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (MIN)

It appears teams are starting to get a read on Shane Bieber. In his last terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad start last week Bieber allowed seven runs in 1.2 innings. He’s been using his fastball quite a bit and perhaps even too much. Teams have been able to pick up on it and it’s been costing him. In fact July was an altogether bad month for Bieber as he had a 7.84 ERA in just 20.2 innings.

Ervin Santana made his first start of the year last week after he injured his finger in February. He may already be auditioning for another team. Santana was one of the Twins best pitchers last season and he absolutely dominated the Indians with a 0.38 ERA in four starts. In his first start this year he three runs in five innings.

RHP Trevor Bauer (CLE) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson

Trevor Bauer returned to form in his last start against the streaking Pirates. He stopped their winning ways with a downright dominant performance. He allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings and settled any questions of his post-All-Star-break performance. Bauer remains one of the best pitchers in baseball and has a 1.93 ERA in his last seven starts while striking out 63 in 46.2 innings.

Kyle Gibson is another less enticing trade candidate. He’s made two starts against the Tribe this year and has a 2.13 ERA. He’s been a pretty effective pitcher for the Twins this year and had a great outing against the mighty Red Sox in his last start. Gibson is on pace for the best year of his career in a statistical sense. But it isn’t showing in the win column. Gibson has a 5-7 record to follow up last year’s 12 win season.

RHP Carlos Carrasco (CLE) vs. RHP Lance Lynn (MIN)

Carlos Carrasco is starting to look like his old self again. He’s combined for 13 innings allowing just three runs in his last two starts. A healthy and consistent Carrasco is just what the Indians need to go all the way. He is a trademark of the Tribe rotation.

His last start against the Twins resulted in allowing four runs and taking a line drive in the elbow that would land him on the DL. Carrasco has been good since his return but a great start here could really instill confidence.

Take every Twins pitcher mentioned with a grain of salt as it seems like they’re all on the trade block. Lance Lynn has had a rather up and down season to this point. His last 10 outings have resulted in four losses, four wins, and two no-decisions. Talk about a roller coaster. He’s not working very deep into games as he’s only seen the seventh inning once in that span. If a team is looking to add him, it certainly isn’t for innings.