Cleveland Indians: Big test awaits in the Chicago White Sox

Big test awaits for the Cleveland Indians in the Chicago White Sox

The Cleveland Indians looked like a much improved team the second time around against the Detroit Tigers, capturing a series sweep to move to 5-3 on the young season. Now, the team will transition to a road series against the Chicago White Sox in what will be the first big test of the season for the Tribe.

Entering the year, Cleveland was included in a conversation of the top AL Central teams, being joined by the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins. The upcoming four games in Chicago will be the first time the Tribe will have faced either of the other two teams. Luckily, the Cleveland Indians will enter the series with a lot of momentum.

For starters, the Tribe are currently riding a four-game winning streak, having topped the Kansas City Royals before sweeping the Tigers. Over those four games, Cleveland is outscoring their opponent 24-8. What was once considered a concerning offense less than a week ago is now catching on and getting hot.

While hitting in general would have been a nice step in the right direction, the power of the offense is what is starting to make the difference and will play a big role against the White Sox. The Cleveland Indians began the series against Detroit with two Franmil Reyes home runs to account for three of the four runs scored.

It was a similar story in the second game when five different players went yard for the Tribe. Roberto Perez, Cesar Hernandez, Jordan Luplow, Reyes and Andres Gimenez all sent balls over the fence in the second game, setting the most home runs through the first seven games by the Tribe since the 1997 season.

While the third game didn’t see any Cleveland home runs, the Tribe was still able to post five runs for the win, which is almost a better sign. If this club can start putting runs together without the need of a home run, then they could become a very dangerous team to face given the starting pitching.

So, what about this series? How will the Cleveland Indians play against a top American League team in the Chicago White Sox?

While Chicago’s stats show that they can produce runs, being sixth in the league for total runs scored with 51, they still enter with just a 4-5 record. Part of that is due to a middle of the road pitching staff so far this season, posting a team ERA of 3.79. For comparison, the Cleveland pitching staff has the third lowest ERA in the league at 2.83.

That could be where the difference lies in this series. It will be a strong Chicago offense against a strong Cleveland defense and pitching staff while the Chicago pitching has struggled and the Cleveland hitting is catching on.

If the Cleveland Indians can continue their success at the plate from the last four games, then this could be a statement series for the Tribe. While on paper the pitching matchups won’t be easy, facing Carlos Rodon, Lucas Giolito, Dallas Kuechel and Lance Lynn, Cleveland could be catching the White Sox just early enough that they are still working on settling in.

As for the rotation for the Tribe, the series should start with Triston McKenzie followed by Shane Bieber, although starters for the last two games have yet to be announced on the Tribe’s website. With 10 games in a row, the Indians might work in a bullpen day to save some arms. Prior to this stretch, three consecutive games was the longest without an off day, so this could be very telling for not only how the team will perform on little rest, but also how Terry Francona plans to go about the season. With it being less than 10 games old, he might opt to ease some players into longer stints.

Regardless of who takes the mound, the Cleveland Indians will need to come out swinging the way they have been of late. The team that has taken the field the last four games has looked much better than what we saw in Detroit during Opening Weekend. Now, the key will be taking that back on the road and keeping the momentum. Winning at Progressive Field is great, but winning on the road will make the difference this season in what will be a tough AL Central.