The Indians got back to winning ways on the road, winning their first series since the opening week in Texas. A heavy dose of rain on Wednesday night reduced the four game set in Minnesota to just three games and Cleveland emerged victorious in each one, sweeping the Twins to take their overall record to 8-7.
Here's some talking points from the Tribe's trip to Target Field.
Back Of The Rotation Getting The Job Done
The Indians sent their three, four and five guys to the mound over the course of this series and each pitcher performed well, picking up the win in their respective game.
Danny Salazar got the series started on Monday and shut down the Twins over 6 innings of work. He allowed 7 hits, 2 walks and 1 earned run, whilst striking out 7. It was his best start of this early season and Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen combined to earn Salazar his first win, and seal a 3-1 victory for Cleveland.
Josh Tomlin, who was awful in his first couple of starts, also put in his best performance of the season so far. Tomlin was gifted a 3-0 lead by the time he walked out to the mound but proceeded to give 2 runs right back on a Max Kepler sac-fly and a Robbie Grossman double. Just as everyone was about to panic, Tomlin settled down and only gave up one more run, another sac-fly in the fourth inning. Overall Tomlin was effective, lasting 6 innings with 7 hits surrendered for 3 earned runs with 2 strikeouts for good measure. The offense backed him and he also picked up his first win, in a 11-4 Indians blowout. It must be his new haircut.
In the third and final game Trevor Bauer took the ball for the Indians and guess what, he pitched his best game of the season too! Similar to Tomlin, Bauer had also lost his previous two starts but despite the cold and damp conditions he pitched well, lasting 6.1 innings. He gave up just 3 hits but walked 3 as well, for 2 earned runs, and he struck out 7 batters as well. Credit must go to Bauer for working his way out of a sticky fourth inning. After a slip on the mound that resulted in a balk to open the scoring, Bauer got out of a bases loaded situation and avoided the big inning that might have lost this game. Fortunately the Tribe offense picked him up later in the seventh inning and Shaw, Miller and Allen did their thing again to seal the sweep and give Bauer the win.
It's a big positive for any ballclub when your back of the rotation guys can all produce quality starts that keep your team in the game. Fortunately for Salazar, Bauer and Tomlin, the offense was there to capitalise on Minnesota's less-than-stellar pitching staff and get the win each time out. I'm still not convinced Tomlin will be in the rotation all year long, especially when Mike Clevinger is forcing the issue down in Columbus.
The Kipnis Predicament
Rumor has it that Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis is ready to return from his strained right rotator cuff injury. Kipnis opened the year on the disabled list after experiencing some discomfort in his shoulder and the club rightfully took precautions. Now Kipnis is back to full health and could feature this weekend against the White Sox in his native Chicago, maybe even as early as tonight.
This creates a roster problem for Terry Francona and co. Who makes room for Kipnis' return?
The likely choice will be Yandy Diaz. The young Cuban who took spring training by storm hasn't managed to produce those sort of numbers thus far in his first taste of the big leagues but he's been surprisingly good with the glove. Diaz is slashing just .236/.295/.255 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 2 RBI and 5 walks to 14 strikeouts and has just one extra-base hit so far, a double. He's featured almost every day at third base but hasn't made the most of the plate appearances he's had.
Nevertheless, with Kipnis set to resume his duties at second base, that means Jose Ramirez will slide back over to third base. Ramirez has been red hot to start the season, slashing .345/.415/.618 with a 1.034 OPS, plus 4 home runs and 16 RBI, with 8 walks (and just 8 strikeouts.) At this stage in Diaz's development, it wouldn't be beneficial for him to ride the bench and just fill in on Ramirez's days off. The sensible option would be to demote Diaz to Columbus and keep him playing everyday.
The only other option would be to keep Diaz on the roster and continue to use him as an outfielder, a position he's very familiar with. But I can't see this happening honestly. The Indians are committed to developing Diaz at third base and after all this early season effort, what would be the point in pushing Diaz back to a corner outfield spot? Also, the Tribe are stacked with outfielders at the moment, so much so that Tyler Naquin was dropped to Columbus only recently when Lonnie Chisenhall returned from the DL. If the Indians decide to continue carrying Diaz, they'll have to drop Abraham Almonte or Austin Jackson. Jackson in particular is unlikely to be demoted as the Indians would have to risk losing him entirely through waivers, something I don't think they'll even contemplate at the moment.
I'm sure we'll see Diaz again in 2017 but for the time being, Columbus will almost certainly be his new home for the foreseeable future.
Player Of The Series
There is always a host of candidates for this award when a sweep is involved but the lucky winner this time is Cody Allen. The right-handed 28 year-old closer featured twice against the Twins, recording his 3rd overall save of 2017 in Monday's win, and he pitched a scoreless ninth inning on Thursday as well. Allen made Indians fans sweat on Monday however, giving up 2 hits and a walk before finally ending the inning for the save. Allen loves to turn his save opportunities into a spectacle but thankfully more times than not he gets the result we all want. He is one of the best relief pitchers in baseball after all.
The Indians now travel to the south side of Chicago to take on the White Sox in a three game series, their second match-up of the season. Both teams will send their respective aces to the mound tonight, as the Tribe's Corey Kluber will faceoff against Chicago's Jose Quintana. Cleveland will be keen to continue their recent form against AL Central opposition and pad their lead at the top of the division.
Thanks for reading.
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