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Cleveland Indians: Scouting the three-gamer in Detroit

ByChris O'Reilly|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 22: Aaron Civale #67,Francisco Lindor #12,Carlos Santana #41 and Jason Kipnis #22 of the Cleveland Indians head to the dugout in the bottom of the sixth inning against the New York Mets as severe weather comes in at Citi Field on August 22, 2019 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 22: Aaron Civale #67,Francisco Lindor #12,Carlos Santana #41 and Jason Kipnis #22 of the Cleveland Indians head to the dugout in the bottom of the sixth inning against the New York Mets as severe weather comes in at Citi Field on August 22, 2019 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 02: Mike Clevinger #52 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the first inning at Progressive Field on August 2, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 02: Mike Clevinger #52 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the first inning at Progressive Field on August 2, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)

Probable Starters

Tuesday, 7:10 PM EST – RHP Adam Plutko vs. RHP Spencer Turnbull

Adam Plutko pitched a solid game against the Mets last week, keeping the Indians around but ultimately watching them lose in extras. He’s now coming off two straight quality starts against good teams in the Mets and Yankees.

Any time Plutko is able to navigate around his underlying numbers and keep the Indians in games, they have to find a way to win. The Tribe will look to reenact their 19-run explosion in his other most recent start, as opposed to the extra-inning loss in his last.

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Spencer Turnbull’s second-half numbers aren’t quite on par with his borderline Rookie of the Year first half. Since July 12, he’s rocking a 6.58 ERA. He’s still just as effective at inducing grounders as he has been all season, but more of his mistakes have begun clearing the fence of late.

Wednesday, 7:10 PM EST – RHP Aaron Civale vs. RHP Jordan Zimmermann

Aaron Civale was one out away from beginning his career with five straight quality starts last week in Queens. He’s striking out 21.7% of hitters and walking just 5.2%, though his strikeout rate has dropped in each of his last four games.

Jordan Zimmermann has had a terrible go at things at Comerica Park, evidenced by a home ERA of 8.18. He’s decent when it comes to inducing ground balls, but doesn’t strike many hitters out. His OPS allowed to lefties is .892, so look for the Tribe’s contingent of switch-hitters, along with Jason Kipnis and Mike Freeman, to go get him.

Thursday, 1:10 PM EST – RHP Mike Clevinger vs. LHP Daniel Norris

In an interesting bit of gamesmanship, the Indians will bump up Mike Clevinger to start Thursday, which will ensure his availability for the Twins series looming next weekend, according to Zack Meisel.

Clevinger is striking out 34.6% of opposing hitters since July 3, with a 47.4% ground ball rate in the same span. The Tigers have struck out in 26.5% of their plate appearances, the highest such rate in the league.

The Indians won’t have to face Matthew Boyd this week, instead getting Daniel Norris among Tigers southpaws. Norris has been utilized as something of an opener recently, making three consecutive starts of just three innings each.

Norris has faced considerably more righties than lefties, with the former having tagged him for a .290/.336/.490 slash line and 18 home runs.

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