Cleveland Indians-Kansas City Royals Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Kansas City Royals Series Preview 5/6-5/8

The Cleveland Indians (13-12) will host the defending World Series Champion Kansas City Royals (14-13) in a three-game series this weekend at Progressive Field. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs this season. The Indians are coming off a sweep of the Tigers while the Royals are coming off a series loss against the Washington Nationals.

The Indians will send out Danny Salazar (tonight), Cody Anderson (tomorrow), and Josh Tomlin (Sunday). The Royals will counter with righties Yordano Ventura, Ian Kennedy, and Edison Volquez.  The Indians will need to make a roster move before tomorrow’s game, which they’ve yet to announce, in order to re-add Anderson to the roster. He is still in Triple-A after being optioned last week, but will return to make the start Saturday despite struggling a bit in his sole minor league appearance.

The Indians will look to back their starters with more offense like they showed against the Detroit Tigers this week. The Indians scored 20 runs (6.7 per game) on 31 hits in their three games against the Tigers. Despite being dropped to the sixth spot in yesterday’s game, look for Carlos Santana to head back to the top of the lineup with more right-handers on the docket. On the season, Santana is hitting .263 with a .400 OBP and .979 OPS versus right-handed pitching. He also has a .316 ISO (isolated power) versus righties, which is eighth-best in the American League. 

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Keys to the Series

The Tribe’s bullpen, which has been a thorn in their side in the early going, actually pitched quite well in the Detroit series. In 6 1/3 innings, Tribe relievers allowed just two runs (2.86 ERA) on five hits and one walk (0.95 WHIP). They also struck out nine Tigers hitters (12.9 K/9 rate). Of course, it helped that ace Corey Kluber pitched a complete game shutout in the second game, giving the bullpen even more rest, but it was still a site for sore eyes after watching so many close games slip away late.

The Indians will need their bullpen to continue to pitch well against the Royals who we all know have one of the toughest bullpens in the majors and have for multiple seasons now. The Indians won’t be able to afford to give up any late leads should the offense provide them.

The Indians will also need a big start from Cody Anderson on Saturday. Anderson has not pitched well this year, which prompted his demotion to Triple-A last week.  With Carlos Carrasco still out for several more weeks and off days becoming fewer as the weather warms, the Indians will need Anderson to step up as the fourth/fifth starter (along with Trevor Bauer). Hopefully, his trip to Triple-A helped him work on his mechanics enough that he can get back to getting outs like he did late last season.

Perez’s Surgery Went Well

As mentioned earlier, catcher Roberto Perez was to undergo surgery on his fractured right thumb today and according to Perez himself, sounds like the surgery went well:

Next: Indians Sweep Tigers

The Indians still haven’t said just how long he will be out though manager Terry Francona did say he didn’t think surgery would really set him back any longer than just rehab (not sure that’s good or bad though).  With Yan Gomes as the starter, hopefully, the Indians won’t miss Perez too much though it will be hard to replace his plate discipline and defense. Chris Gimenez made a grand entrance yesterday though and did put up some great 2015 numbers, so he’s shown he can be more than a capable backup in a pinch.