Indians Series “Preview”

The Cleveland Indians are 25-34 on the year and are in last place in the AL Central.  They are 4-6 in their last 10 games, 12-14 at home and 13-20 on the road.

The Kansas City Royals are 24-32, in 4th place in the AL Central, and 6.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers.  They are 1-9 in their last 10 games, 15-15 at home and 9-17 on the road.

Team Rankings:

Indians

Pitching

Royals

5.23

28^th

ERA

4.31

15^th

243

29^th

BB

192

t-9^th

377

21^st

SO

386

18^th

1.53

29^th

WHIP

1.41

t-18^th

317

28th

Runs Allowed

264

t-14^th

Indians

Hitting

Royals

.269

t-10^th

BA

.246

27^th

.352

t-5^th

OBP

.314

t-28^th

.426

8^th

SLG

.394

23^rd

64

t-8^th

HR

46

23^rd

35

t-13

SB

28

25^th

230

7^th

BB

170

27^th

465

27^th

SO

376

14^th

308

3^rd

Runs

222

28^th

Indians

Fielding

Royals

.985

t-12^th

FP

.982

t-21^st

.6964

24^th

DER

.6913

t-27^th

33

t-13^th

E

37

t-21^st

The Pitching Matchups:
6/9 RHP-Brian Bannister (4-3, 4.97) vs. LHP-Cliff Lee (3-6, 2.96)
6/10 RHP-Gil Meche (2-5, 4.08) vs. RHP-Carl Pavano (6-4, 4.63)
6/11 RHP-Zack Greinke (8-2, 1.55) vs. LHP-Jeremy Sowers (1-3, 5.40)

Thoughts:
Well, the Royals have already split the first two games by the time I am finishing this up.  The Royals are hitting .347 (25/72) thus far in the series.  It is hard to say if the offense is finally starting to wake up, or the Indians pitching is so bad that KC can’t help but hit well.  I’m inclined to think it has more to do with the Indians pitching than the Royals offense, but it would be near impossible for the offense to stay as bad as it has been the last several weeks.

A positive sign from the series is that last night and tonight David DeJesus was atop the Royals lineup.  Last night Coco wasn’t in the lineup, but tonight he is.  Maybe Trey has come to the proper conclusion that DJ should bat leadoff and Coco should be the number 2 hitter, or maybe Trey’s random lineup juggling has resulted in what I want to see.  I guess we will find out next series if he has finally figured out.

In other lineup related news, Callaspo is hitting 5th tonight, Brayan Pena is the DH again, and the left side of the infield consists of Willie Bloomquist at 3B and TPJ at SS.  Anyone still believe the Royals are going to compete this year?  Trey’s options are severly limited right now, but I’d like to see Guillen in the DH slot with Maier in RF when Greinke is pitching.  I don’t know how much more offense B. Pena gives the Royals over Maier, but it isn’t enough to offset the defense they lose with Guillen playing RF over pretty much anyone else on the roster.

DeJesus just collected his 2nd hit of the night to drive in the Royals 1st run of the game.  DJ is now 4-8 the last 2 nights hitting leadoff.  I hope Trey realizes that it’s not just a coincidence.

In the next few days, look for more coverage of the Royals draft selections as well as the preview for the Reds series and the new and improved weekly edition of Pitching Perspectives.