Cleveland Indians: Previewing a late night series in Seattle

Pitching Matchups

RHP Bauer (CLE) vs. LHP Kikuchi (SEA)

Trevor Bauer got off to a hot start in 2019, but his last outing was a bit of a humbling one. He allowed 10 hits and four runs in his start against the Tigers. Eventually, a pitcher is bound to come down to earth, and the Indians were never really out of that game, but now he has the task of taking on these explosive Mariners.

Yusei Kikuchi was supposed to be one of the few interesting pieces of what was a supposedly rebuilding M’s squad. Instead, he’s part of their rotation that has been solid. The 27-year-old rookie out of Japan didn’t quite have the hype of Shohei Ohtani, but he has himself a 4.15 ERA. Now he’s just looking for that first big-league win.

RHP Bieber (CLE)  vs. RHP Leake (SEA)

What if I told you that Shane Bieber has been the Cleveland Indians best pitcher in 2019? Well, Mike Clevinger has been pretty damn good too, but you know… injuries. But with that injury being a major key factor with the Indians rotation, Bieber has stepped up and been lights out. He has himself a 1.80 ERA and has completely shut down teams that he’s faced. Another impressive outing from Bieber could give this rotation a lot of confidence as other pitchers try to find their groove.

Mike Leake isn’t the most consistent pitcher, but he has won two of his three starts in 2019 for the Mariners. He’s a firm middle piece in their rotation. He has a career 3.98 ERA against the Tribe with two wins, so he knows how to keep Cleveland in check. He’s never had an ERA below 3.00 in his career and he’s given up multiple runs in each start he’s had this year, the Indians will look to get to him early.

RHP Carrasco (CLE) vs. RHP Swanson (SEA)

Well if you’re a fan of patterns, you should be excited for the next start from Carlos Carrasco. He started the season off with a dismal start against Minnesota, righted the ship in dominant fashion against Toronto, then was rocked again by Kansas City. This can only mean he will be lights out in his next start. Right? RIGHT???

Another rookie enters the fold for Seattle. Erik Swanson will be replacing Wade LeBlanc in the rotation while he is hurt. He made one relief appearance (didn’t go well) and now he will make his debut as a starter. With two pitchers that the Indians have never seen, it will be interesting to see how they approach this series.

Storylines

Play to your strengths

One thing is for sure, the offense has not been a strength for the Cleveland Indians so far this year. It usually isn’t when the season starts off for this squad. But pitching has always been a strength in the Francona years. We all worried about the bullpen this offseason. They’ve been pretty damn impressive, to say the least. In fact, they’ve been more consistent than the rotation that we all believed in.

That’s not to say the rotation is a weakness. These starters are all capable of Cy Young-esqe seasons. There is plenty of time to right the ship and that’s what the Indians have to do. Score whatever runs you can and let your starters dominate the opposition.

Hats for Bats

This is one of the warmer environments that the Indians have played in this year. They’ve played throughout the chilly AL Central ballparks and now they finally head out west. 50 degrees may not be the warmest, but the humidity will help the ball carry. This is a chance for the Indians bats to come alive. Seattle isn’t exactly a hitters park, but if the Mariners can keep hitting dingers, the Indians can try.

Worse/Best Case scenario

Worse case: 0-3 series loss: The Indians were swept a total of two times last year. One time in the regular season against the Yankees, and in the playoffs against Houston. They’ve now been swept once this season and it’s still April. I don’t see back-to-back sweeps coming, but there is a chance for it given how hot the Mariners are right now.

Best case: 3-0 series win: You may say “duh, of course, these are the best and worse scenarios” and you would be right. Typically I try to keep these outcomes realistic. There is a realistic chance that this Mariners team cools off against an Indians rotation that dominates when they’re on top of their game. Teams know to attack the Tribe rotation early, so the starters need to counter that and work their way around the strike zone to rack up the strikeouts.

The series starts tonight at 10:10 PM and continues through Wednesday before the team returns home this weekend. They have an off day on Thursday which happens to be my birthday. So thankfully that will be stress-free.