Cleveland Indians: Previewing the Players' Weekend series

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It’s one of the most fun weekends in the MLB season, as the Cleveland Indians and every other team will don nicknames on the backs of their jerseys for Players’ weekend.

It’s good to see the MLB get out of their comfort zone at times. When you see players donning nicknames; some of which are actually pretty funny, it’s pretty cool to see. The Cleveland Indians will get in on the fun this weekend against the Kansas City Royals (the team they faced in last years’ Players’ Weekend.

The Royals are competing for the number one draft pick right now as they are one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. They’ll be facing the Indians ten more times this season. Speaking of the Indians, they’re coming off splitting a series with the Boston Red Sox, in what may have been an ALCS preview.

The Indians are now hot on the tracks of the AL West contenders for the second seed in the American League playoffs. Considering the Indians have just 3 series’ remaining against teams above .500 (one against Boston, two against Tampa Bay) they have a good chance of catching that number two seed.

Projected Lineups

Cleveland Indians (73-54) vs. Kansas City Royals (38-90)

Cleveland Indians: SS Mr. Smile, LF Junior, 3B Enriquito, DH Riveria, 1B Mr. 305, RF Melk Man, 2B Dirtbag, C Gomer, CF Greg Allen

Kansas City Royals: 2B Whitley, LF Gordo, C El Nino, DH Dude, RF Varon, 1B Brohearn, 3B Doz, CF Maverick, SS Magic

Strong nicknames from both sides here but the level of play is pretty far apart. The Indians have played some of their best baseball since coming out of the All-Star Break. Being 17-6 in the month of August will do that for you. Adding Edwin Encarnarion (Riveria) back into the mix gives the Indians a big benefit in the slugging department, as he hit two homers in his return against the Red Sox.

If you thought the Royals lineup looked strange before the deadline, it must look almost foreign to you now (not counting the nicknames of course.) They sent Mike Moustakas on his way at the trade deadline and Ryan O’Hearn (Brohearn) takes his spot now. The players remaining from the 2015 World Series team are dwindling, the they’re in full rebuild mode.

Probable Pitchers

RHP Sunshine (CLE) vs. RHP B.K. (KC)

Mike Clevinger (Sunshine) took the rubber-match against the Orioles last Sunday, and did it in style, striking out seven through six innings. The question surrounding him right now is if he can stay consistent. It seems like every time he’s getting back on track, a bad start derails him. Fortunately he’s facing a team that he’s owned this season. Sunshine has a 1.80 ERA in two starts against Kansas City in 2018.

Brad Keller (B.K.) is having himself a respectable rookie season. Hell, he pitched 4.1 shutout innings against the Indians in his lone start against them. That’s pretty good for a rookie pitcher. He has a 3.32 overall ERA on the year, but he’s likely earned himself a permanent spot in the Royals rotation for the time being.

RHP Kluber (CLE) vs. RHP Filly (KC)

Corey Kluber (Kluber) refuses to don the nickname “Klubot” or “Klubes” as he had last year. What else would you expect from the most stoic pitcher in baseball. He did yield three runs to the Red Sox on Monday, but thanks to some good run support, he picked up the win after 6.1 innings. With Chris Sale and Trevor Bauer on the DL for the foreseeable future, Corey Kluber finds himself right back in the mix for his third AL Cy Young award.

Heath Fillmyer (Filly) is another rookie pitcher for the Royals. His numbers aren’t as impressive as Kellers’ but he’s been faced with a slew of losses. The Royals have lost every game he’s started this year outside of an earned victory over the Cubs.

RHP Not Justin (CLE) vs. RHP Jorge Lopez (KC)

Shane Bieber (Not Justin) has arguably the best nickname of players weekend. He also had an elite performance against the Red Sox on Tuesday. He held the Red Sox scoreless for six innings before allowing three runs in the seventh. He even had a no-hitter working into the fourth, which is hard to do against that Boston lineup. Bieber is 3-1 in his last seven starts, but he’ll look to improve upon his 4.36 ERA.

This will be Jorge Lopez‘s third start with the Royals. He had a tremendous 2017 season with 10 wins and a 2.75 ERA with the Milwaukee Brewers, but that hasn’t quite translated to his days with Kansas City. He has a dismal 6.52 ERA in two starts with the Royals, and will have his hands full with this loaded Tribe lineup.

Storylines

Stay the course

The Indians faced their biggest challenge of the year, and they fared well. The Red Sox have the best home record in baseball and the Indians went in there and took two games from them. Cleveland is playing some HOT baseball right now, despite being shutout yesterday. They’ll look to trounce the lowly Royals and continue their quest to earn a higher seed in the AL playoffs.

Will the Indians make a move at the waiver deadline?

The waiver deadline is quickly approaching and the Indians still need help in the outfield. Lonnie Chisenhall and Tyler Naquin are still weeks away from making a return. Rajai Davis is on the DL with…. Matt what is Rajai Davis dealing with?

Yikes. On top of that, Leonys Martin will be unable to play baseball for the remainder of 2018. So that means the Indians are depleted in the outfield. If they’re going to reload by making an addition out there, now is the time to do it.

Worse/Best case scenario

Worse case: 1-2 series loss:

Nothing to see here, simply meeting the professional standards of writing a scenario for both sides. In this scenario: pizza helps you lose weight, the Cleveland Browns are 16-0, and the Kansas City Royals are good at baseball. We do not live in such a world.

Best case: 3-0 series win:

This is what most Indians fans should expect, and if you don’t you probably aren’t very fun to have at parties and your Players’ Weekend nickname is probably just your regular name. The Indians are sending three very good pitchers to the mound and the Royals are sending two rookies out there. The Cleveland Indians are also very good at baseball. The Kansas City Royals are not.

dark. Next. Josh Tomlin's role for the rest of 2018

This series kicks off tonight at 8:15 PM, let’s take this time to appreciate the brilliant players weekend nicknames out there. We likely won’t see El Piñata (Brandon Guyer) out there since the Royals aren’t sending any lefty pitchers out. But we will all get to enjoy the brilliance of Andrew Miller (Miller Time).

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