The Cleveland Indians the good, the bad, the embarrassing.
Team struggles
Player
The Cleveland Indians starting pitching was supposed to be the best part of the team coming into the season. There have been injuries but that is no excuse. With Corey Kluber and Mike Clevinger on the injured list you would think that your 2 leading veterans Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer would step up. Right? Well not quite, Trevor Bauer is 4-5 with a 3.87 ERA and Carlos Carrasco is 4-6 with a whopping 4.98 ERA. The defense has not helped them as Bauer had just 2 earned runs in his last start where the Indians defense committed 4 errors. The Indians star players have really struggled. Jose Ramirez was hitting below 200 on the season almost all of may, however it sure looks like he is picking it up. Francisco Lindor in the lead off spot has been good, just not up to his usual standards. The only player that has been consistent all year is Carlos Santana who has 11 home runs on the year and has been a very clutch hitter. As for the Indians bullpen, if the Indians could get to the 7th inning with the lead they would be one of the best teams in baseball. Brad Hand the Indians closer has been insane, he is 2-2 with a 1.14 ERA and has 16 saves in 16 opportunities. The Indians just have to get to the bullpen with the lead and they’ll win games.
To make things worse the Minnesota Twins are arguably the hottest team in baseball right now. They have role players playing better then the Indians stars. The twins have Eddie Rosario who was not even top 10 in the AL MVP voting last year in the top 3. He his hitting 277 with a league leading 17 home runs and 47 runs batted in. The Twins have had injuries to, but they have been great from top to bottom. If it isn’t Rosario hitting it’s Polanco, schoop,Kepler, or even Miguel Sano. Now the Twins don’t score 10 runs every game by any means. But, their starting pitching has been tremendous. Jose Berrios, who is the Twins ace has gone 7-2 with a 3.27 ERA, Jake Odorizzi has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball at 8-2 with an incredible 1.96 ERA. The Twins also throw different things at you. Their lefty pitcher Martin Perez is also 7-2 with a 3.71 ERA. The Twins won’t stay hot forever, but they better cool down quick or the Indians will be in big trouble.
Looking at what’s ahead here in the coming weeks. This upcoming week is huge. The Indians will have 6 home games this week, with the Twins coming to town for a 3 game set which is a must win series for the Indians. Then the Yankees, who are arguably the second hottest team in baseball come to town for a 3-game weekend set which will be a good series with all the injuries that the Yankees have. To say the least it sure won’t be easy, but the Indians will have to come through.
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