Indians

Indians host White Sox in Home Opener

The Cleveland Indians return home from a rough start in Minnesota and will take on the Chicago White Sox in a two game series.

The season is not off to a great start for the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland only managed to win one game while in Minnesota. The offense struggled and at times appeared non-existent. Cleveland finished their series with the Twins with only 12 hits and five runs while striking out 39 times. The good news is that with the exception of Carlos Carrasco’s start on Sunday, the pitching staff performed well overall.

Game 1: April 1 4:00 P.M. Mike Clevinger versus Ivan Nova

Mike Clevinger gets the nod for the Indians home opener and he will face a White Sox lineup that he has fared well against in the past. Tim Anderson, Adam Engel, Yoan Moncada, Daniel Palka, Jose Rondon and Yolmer Sanchez are a combined 6-50 against Clevinger. Although there are others in the White Sox lineup who have previous success against Clevinger. Jose Abreu is 5-18 lifetime with two home runs and four RBI’s. Jon Jay is 4-6 with one double, one triple and one run batted in.

Cleveland’s hitters have not faced Ivan Nova all that much. That being said, when they have faced Nova they have performed quite well. Leonys Martin is 4-10. Brad Miller is 2-5 with a double and a triple. Tyler Naquin’s only hit in two at-bats against Nova is a home run. Hanley Ramirez is 2-4 with a home run. Carlos Santana is 4-10 with two doubles and one home run. Things should go much better for the Tribe offense when compared to their lackluster showing against the Twins to start the year.

Game 2: April 3 1:10 P.M. – Corey Kluber versus Carlos Rodon

The second and final game of the series has Corey Kluber facing Carlos Rodon. Kluber has absolutely dominated the White Sox in his career. The only White Sox hitter with any success against Kluber is Jose Abreu. Abreu is 16-50 with three doubles, five home runs and 12 RBI’s. The rest of Chicago’s lineup is a combined 23-151 against Kluber. It is more than safe to say that Kluber does not have a problem when facing the White Sox.

The unfortunate thing for the Indians when they face Carlos Rodon is that the only players with home runs against him will not be active (Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis). The only players with a good track record in a large enough sample size against Rodon are Carlos Santana and Jose Ramirez. Santana is 7-21 with two doubles while Ramirez is 7-28 with two doubles, a triple and three RBI’s. Greg Allen, Jake Bauers, Brad Miller and Hanley Ramirez are all hitless in their career when facing Rodon. This game could very well end up like the first two games of the Minnesota series. Low-scoring and not a lot of hits.

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