Cleveland Indians Preview: Can Tribe find consistency at Comerica Park?

Can the Cleveland Indians find consistency at Comerica Park?

After winning just one of three games against the Minnesota Twins over the weekend homestand, the Cleveland Indians schedule will shift to Comerica Park where the Tribe will take on the Detroit Tigers over the next four days. Cleveland began their season in the same stadium, winning one of the three-game set. Thanks to a sweep at Progressive Field over the Tigers, the Tribe lead the season series, but recent hardships could make the series in Detroit more interesting than it needs to be.

After beginning the month of May on a hot streak, winning eight of the first 10 games, the Tribe have fallen back down to Earth and stumbled of late. Since heading out to the west coast for the first time since 2019, Cleveland holds a 4-6 record. Now, the club is still 12-8 in the month of May to this point, but that’s a far cry from the 8-2 start that showed promise.

While early in the season it was the offense that presented issues, the troubles have now shifted to the mound as the starting rotation begins to raise concerns. Over the last 10 games, the Tribe have been able to score three runs or more in eight of those games but hold a 4-4 record when they do so. Meanwhile, the pitching staff has surrendered at least three runs in eight of the contests as well, being 2-6 when the opposition reaches the same mark over that span.

Luckily, the Cleveland Indians will now face a Detroit Tigers team that while improving is still a very beatable team. The Tigers’ offense is ranked 28 out of 30 in the league for runs scored this season, which could provide the perfect opportunity for the Tribe’s pitching staff to get back on track and begin to finally click in rhythm with the offense.

Game 1

The first game of the series will pit Sam Hentges against the Detroit Tigers for the first time in professional career as well as being just his third career start. So far this season, Hentges has yet to pitch a full five innings or more and his pitch count hasn’t gone beyond 85 in a game. He will also be looking to bounce back after allowing six runs over just 1.2 innings in his last outing that came against the Los Angeles Angels.

As for the Detroit Tigers, they’ll be tossing Spencer Turnbull who will be making his first start since throwing his no-hitter. Turnbull has been pitching well of late, allowing just one run over his last two starts, but he hasn’t always pitched well against Cleveland being 0-6 over eight career starts against the Tribe.

This series could also present the opportunity for multiple players to find their stride again in the lineup, one being Jose Ramirez. Ramirez has a career slash line of .329/.411/.610 against the Tigers with 19 home runs and 74 RBI, which rank second and first, respectively, for his career numbers against each individual team. Seven of his 24 career triples have also come against Detroit.

Game 3

Normally, this start would have been Triston McKenzie for the Cleveland Indians, but with him being optioned down to Triple-A Columbus, the team has yet to announce a starter for the game. This could mean another move is coming or they might want to see how they have to use their bullpen over the coming games before making a decision.

One candidate to make the start is Jean Carlos Mejia who was recently called up himself, making his debut out of the bullpen against the Twins in the 10-0 loss. Mejia came up as a starting pitcher and looked rather strong in his 2.1 innings of work against Minnesota, striking out five of the seven outs and allowing just one hit.

Having pitched on Friday, a start on Wednesday would give Mejia four days between appearances. Hopefully, the Tribe don’t need him out of the pen before then.

As for the Tigers, they will turn to Jose Urena who pitched against the Tribe back on April 11. Urena picked up the loss in what would be a 5-2 win for Cleveland. Going 4.2 innings, Urena allowed two runs and walked five on top of three hits. Cleveland’s batters should know to be patient at the plate against Urena and draw free passes.

Game 4

The final game of the series might be the best pitching matchup of the four games as we get a rematch of Opening Day between Shane Bieber and Matthew Boyd. While Boyd was the better pitcher on April 1, the two have been relatively close since then despite Bieber’s record looking better.

On Opening Day against Detroit, Bieber struck out 12 batters over six innings, but did allow three runs in the process, picking up the loss in a 3-2 final. He also threw a season-low 95 pitches in the outing. Since then, Bieber has now compiled the most strikeouts in all of baseball with 98 while also leading the American League in innings pitched with 65, trailing only Zach Wheeler on the National League side of competition.

As for Boyd, he’s just lacked run support this season, leading to five losses which is tied for second in the American League behind only his teammate, the aforementioned Tarik Skubal. While the year began strong for Boyd, he’s stumbled in his last two starts, giving up four earned runs over six innings to the Cubs and then five runs over five innings to the Royals.

Boyd is definitely a beatable pitcher for the Tribe and having Bieber on the mound could ease some of the pressure on the offense and hopefully lead to a win to close out the series.