Cleveland Indians: Previewing the weekender with KC

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 15: Carlos Santana #41 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates his two run home run in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 15: Carlos Santana #41 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates his two run home run in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 15: Carlos Santana #41 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates his two run home run in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 15: Carlos Santana #41 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates his two run home run in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Indians will look to get back on track against the Royals after a promising start to a New York road trip ended in disappointment.

There is a considerable amount of doom and gloom surrounding the Cleveland Indians after being swept at the hands of the Mets. The bats went alarmingly cold after an impressive weekend in the Bronx, and the Tribe scored just five runs in three games against New York’s NL franchise.

The back end of the bullpen suddenly looks more like a liability than a strength. Brad Hand blew his third consecutive save in the second game of the series, while his companions in the relief corps combined to give up five earned runs in the first one.

The Indians are now 3.5 games back of the Twins, and perhaps more alarmingly, would not even make the playoffs as a wild card team if the season ended today. With all of these admittedly disconcerting factors contributing to the somber mood in Tribe Town, it’s easy to lose perspective. So let me help with that.

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The month of August was supposed to be the toughest stretch of the Indians’ schedule, and it has proven to be. Since Game 1 of the Astros series, which began on July 30, the Indians are 12-11. Not ideal, but let’s look past the overall record and focus on how they arrived at it: a home sweep of the Angels, a 3-1 series victory over the Twins, a doubleheader sweep to earn a 2-1 series win over the Rangers, and a 2-2 series split with the Yankees who, by the way, had the best record in the American League when that series started.

Yes, the most recent midweek meetings with the Red Sox and Mets were disappointing, especially because the Tribe should have won two against Boston and one against the Mets.

But a 12-11 stretch against all three AL division leaders, the team playing the best baseball in the NL, and the defending World Series champions who are much better than their record? A 5-1 showing against the good-but-not-great Rangers and Angels? Without the top three pitchers from the Tribe’s Opening Day rotation?

I’m not exactly mailing it in after that.

The Indians were due for gravity to take hold of them at some point; their combined winning percentage in June and July was .700. You do that for 162 games and your record is 113-49. Of course they weren’t going to keep that up.

Now is the time to batten down the hatches and get back to playing winning baseball, yes. But it is far from the time to give up. Let’s leave the last three days where they belong, and focus on what’s in front of us: a familiar foe in the Kansas City Royals.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JULY 26: Starting pitcher Zach Plesac #65 of the Cleveland Indians catches a foul ball hit by Bubba Starling #11 of the Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium on July 26, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JULY 26: Starting pitcher Zach Plesac #65 of the Cleveland Indians catches a foul ball hit by Bubba Starling #11 of the Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium on July 26, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Projected Pitching Matchups

Friday, 7:10 PM EST – RHP Zach Plesac vs. RHP Jakob Junis

Zach Plesac’s pitching style has recently caught up to him against the American League’s better hitting teams. Three of his last four starts have come against Houston, Boston and New York, and he has given up 11 earned runs across 14.2 innings in those appearances.

Quite simply, when you allow contact as often as Plesac does, the good teams are going to make that contact count. Plesac’s last two outings against the Royals have been a different story, for obvious reasons. He logged 13 innings and gave up two total earned runs in those starts, while striking out 10.

Jakob Junis has made three appearances in August, all of them qualifying as quality starts. He’s given up six earned runs in 18.1 innings this month. The last time he saw the Indians, they tattooed him for six earned runs on 10 hits on July 26.

Saturday, 7:10 PM EST – RHP Mike Clevinger vs. RHP Glenn Sparkman

The Yankees and Red Sox were able to get Mike Clevinger’s pitch counts up early on in his last two outings; both teams got him off the mound before the sixth inning, a feat which had not been accomplished by any team since June.

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Ron Kulpa ejected Terry Francona and Phil Nevin, then had to leave game himself (Video)
Ron Kulpa ejected Terry Francona and Phil Nevin, then had to leave game himself (Video) /

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  • Despite not going especially deep into the game, Clevinger shut out the Yankees for five innings and sent 10 hitters packing via the strikeout. Clevinger has made two starts against Kansas City this season, logging 13 total innings and allowing one total earned run.

    In Glenn Sparkman’s last two outings against the Tribe, he’s given up 12 earned runs in 10.2 innings. He has struck out just 13.4% of opposing hitters this season, which won’t play well against the Indians if their bats come alive after a miserable three days at Citi Field.

    It’s worth noting that Sparkman will enter Saturday on a high note after notching two straight quality starts against the Cardinals and Mets. His ERA the first time through opposing lineups is 6.75, so look for the Tribe to jump on him early.

    Sunday, 1:10 PM EST – RHP Shane Bieber vs. RHP Jorge Lopez

    If there were such a stat as Unearned Losses, Shane Bieber would be coming off two in a row. He pitched exactly six innings with two earned runs allowed in each of his last two outings, but was tagged with the loss in both.

    It’s been an interesting two-start stretch for Bieber, as he’s had to deal with two tough lineups that made things extremely difficult on him from the outset. He didn’t buckle under the pressure in either one, though he also didn’t receive any run support.

    Jorge Lopez only recently resumed his role in the Royals rotation after a three-month stint as a reliever. He’s seen the Indians six times out of the bullpen this season, and they’ve gotten to him for at least one run in four of those meetings.

    Lopez is allowing an even 1.000 OPS to lefties. Jose Ramirez has a 199 wRC+ against righties since the All-Star break. Take that for what it’s worth.

    (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
    (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

    Small Stories, Big Picture

    Bounce-back opportunity – The Royals have had a knack for playing the Indians tough despite Cleveland’s 10-6 record in the season series. If the Indians want to reassert themselves as true contenders, they need to make an example of their divisional adversary this weekend.

    Since August 1, the Royals are 5-13. Also in this span, there are seven Kansas City hitters who have recorded at least 50 plate appearances. Three of them have a wRC+ above 100, and the rest aren’t even close. Alex Gordon’s wRC+ is -2; Bubba Starling’s is -11.

    As always, the trio of Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler, and Hunter Dozier present a formidable threat at the top of the Royals lineup. The Tribe must exploit Kansas City’s near total lack of depth outside of those three.

    Top of the rotation – Clevinger and Bieber last appeared in the same series against Boston, and it didn’t go as planned. Clevinger got knocked around a bit, Bieber got zero run support, and the Indians lost both games. That was the Red Sox. This is the Royals.

    No win or loss counts more heavily toward a team’s record than the other, but the Indians absolutely cannot give up a game in the standings with their aces on the mound against a dreadful baseball team. It is imperative that the Tribe exploits the unquestionable advantage they’ll have with Clevinger and Bieber this weekend.

    Keep the faith – There are undoubtedly some issues facing the Tribe right now that need to be resolved in a hurry. The Mets series was about as all-around bad as the Indians have looked since springtime. No one is denying that.

    But baseball season is 162 game-days long for a reason. It’s so that teams like the Mariners, who go 13-2 to start the season, are brought back down to size. It’s so that teams like the Nationals, who were 19-31 after 50 games–but obviously never actually a bad team–can turn it around. It’s so that teams like the Indians, who lose three in a row to the Mets in August, aren’t totally wiped out of the race for October.

    Next. Carlos Carrasco looking good in rehab progress. dark

    The way the 2019 season has gone, there is no evidence to suggest that the AL playoff picture will be decided any earlier than the final weekend or the final day. All the Indians can do till then is keep themselves in a position to have something to say about it when the dust settles.

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