Cleveland Indians-Tampa Bay Rays Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Tampa Bay Rays Preview 4/12-4/14

The Cleveland Indians head south to St. Petersburg to take on the Tampa Bay Rays this week in a three-game series. After a week postponements, the Tribe is guaranteed to get all of this series in thanks to the dome at Tropicana Field.  This will be the first meeting for the Indians and Rays and the only time the Tribe travels to St. Petersburg all season.

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In 2015, the Cleveland Indians enjoyed some success versus Rays, winning five of the seven contests between the two clubs.  The Indians were also 4-0 at Tropicana Field in 2015 while also outscored the Rays 29 to 16 in their seven contests.  The Tribe will look to do much of the same this year and to do so will need some good pitching performances from their three aces Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Danny Salazar who are all slated to start (in that order) in the series.  The Rays will counter with a pair of lefties in Matt Moore and Drew Smyly in the first two games before their ace Chris Archer will take the hill Thursday afternoon.

Keys to the Series

The keys for the Tribe this series, outside of their starting pitching, will be how well they handle the lefties the Rays are throwing at them. The Indians have seen three left-handed starters already this year out of their four games and have gone 1-2 in those contests. Two of those three have been against the likes of David Price and Chris Sale and while neither Moore nor Smyly are on that level, neither is a pushover either.  More left-handed pitching also means we may  not see rookie outfielder Tyler Naquin starting the first two games of the series. The Tribe has been consistent so far in platooning him, which makes sense given his lackluster numbers versus left-handed pitching in the minors (career .653 OPS).

Less Naquin means we may see more Collin Cowgill and/or Jose Ramirez in the outfield.  Ramirez is off to a hot start batting .385 on the young season. Cowgill meanwhile has yet to reach base for the Tribe, and while it has only been five plate appearances, one has to wonder how much help he can really provide. The Indians will also look for righties Rajai Davis, Marlon Byrd, and Juan Uribe to get their bats going as none are hitting above .200 on the young season.

Help Coming Soon?

As mentioned yesterday, outfielder Michael Brantley is set to begin his minor-league rehab assignment today with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. Brantley has been out since March 21st after having a minor setback in his recovery from shoulder surgery.  Brantley will join fellow outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall who is also rehabbing with the Clippers.  Despite a ridiculous number of postponements already (four in the first five days), it looks like the Clippers will get some games in this week, starting with one tonight and a doubleheader tomorrow.

Next: First Week Tribe Recap

Chisenhall is definitely closer to returning to the Tribe than Brantley and if he gets enough time in this week, could possibly come off the disabled list this weekend or early next week. He’s now eligible to come off so it’s merely a matter of getting him enough at-bats and playing time in the outfield to make sure the wrist is ready to go.  While Chisenhall is no Brantley, his presence will be a welcome addition as he’ll help provide some stability in the outfield, locking down the rightfield position against right-handers.