Cleveland Indians-Cincinnati Reds Series Preview Take Two

Cleveland Indians-Cincinnati Reds Series Preview 5/18-5/19

The Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds will finish up their season series in a two-game set that will now take place along the shores of the Ohio River at Great American Ballpark. The Indians are coming off a quick home sweep of the Reds, taking both games between the two clubs at home the past two nights by a combined score of 28-7 that looks more like a Browns-Bengals score than something that should happen in just two baseball games. The Indians will look to take the season series with at least one victory in Cincinnati, claiming the Ohio Cup once again.

The Tribe will send out rookie Mike Clevinger tonight and then Josh Tomlin tomorrow night. The Reds will counter with left-hander Brandon Finnegan and then right-hander Tim Adleman. Clevinger will be making his major league debut tonight when he steps on the mound for the Tribe. He recently replaced the struggling Cody Anderson in the rotation and will look to continue the success he’s had the last two seasons. 

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The Indians still need to make a roster move before tonight’s game in order to add Clevinger to the 25-man roster.  The three options would appear to be outfielder Tyler Naquin, utility man Michael Martinez, or a relief pitcher, such as Kyle Crockett. The first two seem the most likely and while many expect it to be Martinez, I would not be surprised if Naquin was the man to go down to Triple-A Columbus. Naquin was curiously absent from the Tribe’s starting lineup last night, with Rajai Davis getting the start in center field again despite a right-handed pitcher being on the mound…

Keys to the Series

With rookie Mike Clevinger making his major league debut, the key for the Indians will be to put up some runs and take some of the pressure off him. That doesn’t mean they need to put up another 13+ runs, but they can’t let off the pedal. The Tribe needs to try and get on Reds’ starter Finnegan early and force the Reds to turn to their bullpen early once again.

In both games in Cleveland, neither Reds’ starter was able to last five innings with John Lamb going just four and veteran Alfredo Simon lasting just 1/3 of an inning more. The Tribe was able to get to the Reds’ bullpen and force them to throw way more innings than any team would like to see, especially given how bad the Reds’ pen has been.

In fact, the Reds’ bullpen ranks dead last in Major League baseball with a 6.46 ERA. That’s over a run higher than the Texas Ranger, who have the second-worst bullpen ERA at 5.37!  The Indians did some damage of their own there, tagging Reds’ relievers for 11 runs (10 earned) in just 7 2/3 innings of work (11.73 ERA). If the Indians are able to get to the Reds’ bullpen early once again, it could be another fun night for Tribe hitters…

Indians Injury Updates

The Indians have gotten a few injury updates on a key pair.  Starter Carlos Carrasco has thrown a pair of side sessions, with the most recent coming Monday, and looked very good.

"“He looked really good,” said pitching coach Mickey Callaway. “He was throwing, like, 100 [mph] out there. He’s in a really good spot.”"

Carrasco is working his way back from a hamstring injury he sustained in Detroit back on April 24th. So far he’s reported on soreness from the workouts and the last main hurdle for him will be a minor league rehab assignment. The team has not said when he may go on one but the good news it seems like it will happen sooner rather than later, which is huge.

Next: Indians Trounce Reds; Sweep Two-Game Series

In addition to Carrasco, the Tribe got an update on injured outfielder Michael Brantley who visited with Dr. Craig Morgan, the man that performed his shoulder surgery back in November, yesterday.  Brantley was diagnosed with a “subacromial impingement” (shoulder) and a received anti-inflammatory injection to help relieve some of the soreness. There is no timetable for his return at this time but no structural damage is at least a good sign though still no guarantee this won’t be a recurring issue for him all year…