Cleveland Indians: What we learned about the Tribe on Opening Day
By Kyle Edmond
What we learned about the Cleveland Indians on Opening Day
The Cleveland Indians lost a disappointing Opening Day matchup with the Detroit Tigers, so what did we learn about the club in the first game of the season? In reality, it wasn’t much more than what we already knew. Shane Bieber, while human, is still dominant, but this team will go only as far as the offense will allow.
A 3-2 loss to any team is a tough way to begin the season, but having that result come against a division rival that has struggled mightily in the last few seasons is just salt in the wound. Luckily, we play 161 more games, so there’s plenty of time to figure this thing out. Even so, the takeaways from Opening Day should be themes to follow throughout the year.
Shane Bieber is still impressive
Sure, he was given the loss on the box score, but the overall performance of Shane Bieber was exactly what we’ve come to expect from the reigning Cy Young, with the exception of a handful of pitches. He had far more wild pitches than we’re used to seeing and did give up three runs, but that’s not awful considering the conditions. He still managed to strikeout 12 over just six innings.
In reality, Bieber wasn’t that far from a shutout. One pitch to Miguel Cabrera did the first round of damage for two runs and the third came as a result of strikeout. Bieber sent Victor Reyes down on strikes, but the third was in the dirt and Reyes reached before scoring later in the inning.
If the Cleveland Indians can get an outing like that out of Bieber every time he takes the mound, then they should be setup for victory. However, he can’t do it by himself. He needs run support, which brings us to the next point.
Offense is a major concern
Again, nothing we didn’t already know, but the Cleveland Indians looked baffled at the plate on Thursday. The Tribe actually outhit the Tigers with six hits to Detroit’s five, but stringing the hits together was a different story. It wasn’t until the top of the ninth that a run crossed the plate for the Indians, coming via two-run home run by Roberto Perez.
The leadoff spot in the order was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, being split between Jordan Luplow and Ben Gamel, each logging a strikeout. Gamel also drew a walk. The middle of the lineup had better luck, but having six of 12 batters go hitless isn’t great. It’s worth noting that two of the hitless players did walk, but the Tribe will need to find a way to string together productive at-bats rather than have them sporadically through the game. Then when someone does reach base, find a way to get them home. Having nine runners left on base over the course of a game is never a good sign.
Get ready for platoons and substitutions
We saw early and often what the season will look like at a few positions based on matchups. With a left-handed starting pitcher in Matthew Boyd for Detroit, the Indians went with Jordan Luplow in center field and Yu Chang at first. However, once a right-handed reliever came in, Terry Francona was quick to pull the trigger on subs.
Ben Gamel entered for Luplow while Jake Bauers came on for Chang before Bauers was replaced in the ninth by Amed Rosario at the plate.
It’s a strategy worth trying, especially early in the season when guys are settling in. It’s just much different from what we’re accustomed to seeing from the Cleveland Indians. If they want to go the Tampa Bay Rays route of saving money and being creative, this fits the bill.
Bullpen will be just fine
The Tribe used both Bryan Shaw and James Karinchak out of the bullpen following Bieber and both looked strong overall. There were some hiccups, mainly Karinchak’s drive to throw junk that led to a walk, but in the big picture it was a good first showing from a group that was a little up-in-the-air when the spring began.
The two relievers had near identical lines, striking out one and walking one over one inning of work. If that’s the median for what to expect from the Cleveland bullpen, that would work out just fine for the rest of the season.
Summary
We obviously wanted to see a win on Opening Day, but no team is going to go 162-0. The early indications from the first game are that this edition of the Cleveland Indians is on the same track of success as other teams, it might just happen in a different way.
Platoons and strategy decisions will play a much larger role this season, whereas the past has been the same lineup in almost every game. While we’ve said “Trust in Tito” in the past, this season is the most trust we will have to put in him. If he can make the right calls and the offense can find support for the pitching, then the Tribe will be contenders when the season is coming to a close.