Cleveland Indians: 3 things that went wrong in June

3 things that went wrong in June for the Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are in the midst of beginning perhaps the most difficult month of the season for them, both on and off the field. The schedule will consist of some of the American League’s best teams while the MLB Draft and trade deadline loom. While the club has some positives from June to build on, there were also some negatives that the team can work to correct in July, or at least avoid.

While we already talked about what went right for the Cleveland Indians in the month of June, there were also things that didn’t go as well. The club had to work through some bumps in the road and while the month ended up with a winning record overall, it was a slight battle to get there for the team.

Over the course of the month of June the Tribe had to deal with some things that they simply haven’t in the months prior. What were once strengths of the team started to be stretched too thin and the injuries began to pile on top of each other. Despite that, the club was able to maintain a 13-11 record in June, and that includes losing a double-header to the Detroit Tigers to close out the month.

As the schedule moves into July and the season nears the halfway mark, the Cleveland Indians are in a decent spot. They are the first time out of the Wild Card standings with the division still well within reach as well. However, if the club wants to keep the postseason within reach heading into August, then they need to take a long look at these three areas.

Some are within the team’s control and others are just a bit of bad luck. But if the Tribe wants to survive the hard month ahead, then they need to get these things as under control as possible in the month of July.

Pitching struggles arise for the Cleveland Indians

The pitching staff for the Cleveland Indians began the season among the league’s best. However, the injuries have taken a toll on not only the starting rotation, but the entire pitching corps.

The starting rotation has been unable to go deep in games recently, which is forcing the bullpen to be used much more than in the first couple months of the season. The added usage and tough situations has caused the team’s pitching stats to spike in the month of June.

After posting an ERA of 4.12 in May, which still isn’t incredible, the club’s ERA jumped up to 5.22 in June. Even with five fewer games played in June the team still gave up four more home runs in June, hit three more batters and gave up nearly the same amount of hits, seeing the WHIP go from 1.34 in May to 1.40 in June.

The trend of a rising ERA has been a season-long story for the Tribe. April saw a team ERA of 3.71, the 11th best mark in the league. That number moved up to 4.12 in May and dropped the team to 17th for the month. As for June, the 5.22 ERA is down to 26th, better than only the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles.

Over the course of July the team should hopefully get back Plesac, Bieber and Civale which will be a huge help. But, even with those players back, the Tribe still clearly need help in the starting rotation if they want to stabilize the bullpen and get back to dominant pitching.

Cleveland Indians playing to level of competition

During the month of June the Cleveland Indians were expected to have a rather easy schedule. They had a pair of series against the Baltimore Orioles and also faced the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pirates. All series that seemed very winnable, even easy sweeps possibly. However, that was far from the case for team.

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Against those four teams the Tribe posted a record of just 8-8 and that includes a four-game sweep over the Orioles. Outside of that sweep, Cleveland didn’t win a series against those teams.

On the flip side, the team did hold their own against teams like the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners. In those games the team posted a winning record of 5-3.

It seems as though the Cleveland Indians are playing to the level of their opponent, for better or for worse. Against teams they should beat, at least on paper, they are coming up short. Yet, in the same week, they are holding their own and beating teams that are statistically better.

This isn’t something uncommon in sports and it should be something that can be fixed. Hopefully, getting some veteran players back off the injured list will play a role in correcting this in July.