Preview: Indians Gear Up For Meeting With Defending World Series Champion Astros

By: Corey Perez

Through the first six weeks of the MLB season, it is safe to say that the 2018 version of the Cleveland Indians has underperformed. Sitting at (21-21) the Tribe has seen a number of should-be wins slip through their fingers in recent weeks. Luckily for the Indians they were able to enjoy a much needed off-day Thursday before a big three game weekend series with the defending World Champions and current AL West-leading Houston Astros, down in Houston.

Cleveland recently lost two out of three on the road against Detroit. Two of the Tribe losses were courtesy of blown leads late in ball games, which has become somewhat of an unfortunate trend of late for the Cleveland bullpen. Just a month ago (April 23rd) the Indians bullpen was 4th in the majors in ERA sitting at 2.55, in the 22 games since the bullpen has surrendered 59 runs in 59 innings pitched. Unfortunately for Tribe fans the bullpen woes are not easy fix right now, and it appears most of the changes will be coming from in house for the time being.

With that being said… here are three things to watch heading into Friday nights contest with the Houston Astros.

1. Who Are They?- The Cleveland Indians have played .500 baseball through the first six weeks of the season, and if you've spent time watching this team you shouldn't be surprised by the average play. To start the season the offense struggled and the Tribe relied heavily on their pitching staff to win ball games, then almost as the weather started to warm as did the way Cleveland was winning baseball games. Unfortunately, the losses seem to be more dramatic and against tougher competition lately. Entering this weekend, the Indians are (5-13) versus teams who boast a record better than .500. Breaking that down a little further, the Indians are (2-6) against teams that would make the postseason if the season ended today.

As one can see these are troubling records versus good competition, albeit there are well over 100 games left in the long season this cold start may be a cause for concern. The good news for Cleveland is that their division flat out stinks right now, and they have been able to remain in 1st place despite the recent struggles.

Houston is sitting at (28-17) heading into this weekend. It is important for the Tribe to be successful this weekend, not only for their confidence but also for the fans’ confidence. Without the fans believing in this year's squad the attendance numbers will remain low until the fans buy into the hype.

2. Battle Of Wits- Usually when the thought of a pitcher's duel and these two teams comes to mind one's mind wanders towards a Dallas Keuchel vs a Corey Kluber matchup, but fans will have to wait until Saturday afternoon for the battle of aces. Friday night’s pitching matchup may not have the star-studded appeal of Saturday, but it should be just as difficult for hitters to get on base. The Indians are trotting out Mike Clevinger against the Astros’ Charlie Morton, as both come in with unblemished records.

Morton sits at (5-0) with a 2.03 ERA, striking out an extremely impressive 11.5 batters per nine innings. Over the course of the season Morton has pitched 48 ⅔ innings, allowing only 17 walks compared to 62 strikeouts. Meanwhile Clevinger is (3-0) with a 2.7 ERA in 53.1 innings pitched, boosting an eye catching 44K/ 14BB ratio.

Fans should be looking forward to tonight's duel as both teams are fortunate of having high scoring offenses so something is gonna have to give tonight.

3. Bad Luck Or A Trend?- Most of the story around the Indians recently has been geared towards to struggles of the bullpen, while this is clearly the most important problem facing the ball club, there are other concerns. One being the Tribes record in one run games, which is a very underwhelming (5-10.) Something to follow as the season moves along is if this is just some bad luck as the bullpen works out their kinks or if this is a trend that will need to be figured out so Cleveland can reach their potential.