The Cleveland Indians hope to eventually elevate their franchise to somewhere close to the rarified air where the Tigers have found themselves for the past several seasons: The class of the AL Central division. <\/p>\n
Date\/Time: Thursday, April 17 2014, 1:08 pm EST<\/strong>
\nVenue: Comerica Park, Detroit MI<\/strong>
\nCleveland, Detroit (no odds yet listed)<\/strong>
\nOver\/Under:<\/strong>
\nPitching Match-up: Danny Salazar (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Justin Verlander (1-1, 2.57 ERA)<\/strong>
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The Tribe (6-7) made some profound strides last season under new manager Terry Francona. It’s not like “Tito” had come from nowhere; he was responsible for bringing the Red Sox from chumps to champs in the last decade, but somehow lost favor in Boston thanks to “Fried Chickengate” (when Sox players decided to drink beer and eat fast food in the bullpen, rather than give a shit about the in-game proceedings).<\/p>\n
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Francona has made some adjustments, some moves have been made from the Cleveland GM’s chair, and the Tribe are on the up-and-up. They join fellow division rival Kansas City in this respect.<\/p>\n
Does this spell trouble for the Detroit Tigers (6-4) at the top of the divisional food chain?<\/p>\n
Two major things happened with the Indians that have elevated them. One, their young rotation has emerged from something that looked like a mess not that long ago, to something that looks promising now. One of those young hurlers, Danny Salazar, takes the mound on Thursday night in Detroit.
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\nTwo, Cleveland took strong hitter Carlos Santana from behind the plate on defense, and replaced him with Yan Gomes. That move actually worked three-fold because (a) Santana is piss-poor defensively; (b) his body will hold up more reliably in the field, he has to be healthy to mash at the plate; and (c) Yan Gomes is strong defensively and surprisingly competent with a bat in his hands (the Brazilian is actually leading the team in OPS thus far).<\/p>\nMaybe it’s not enough for ace Justin Verlander (or stud, strikeout-specialist no. 2 Max Scherzer) to wet themselves, but it’s a step in the right direction for sure.<\/p>\n
Cleveland is getting on-base with regularity and some of the slumping bats will come around soon to make that stat pay dividends. The biggest worry in a young sub-.500 campaign thus far is the poor pitching. The starting five hold a lot of promise, but right now No. 2 starter Corey Kluber leads the team in ERA with a yucky 5.40.<\/p>\n
Salazar is racking up a lot of Ks, but so far he’s given up plenty of earned runs.<\/p>\n
MLB Prediction<\/h3>\n
Detroit hasn’t been great yet either, but it’s too early to condemn any club yet. The Tigers best hitter so far is OF Rajai Davis, an offseason acquisition from the Blue Jays and a platoon man. Once Miguel Cabrera starts turning baseballs into confetti like he always does, the Tigers will be back to elite status.<\/p>\n
Outfielder Torii Hunter is day-to-day for Detroit with a minor injury, but he’s been a run-producing beast and it shouldn’t slow him down long.<\/p>\n
With this game being at home, being pitched by Verlander – probably the best pitcher of the past several years – and with Cleveland’s Salazar still performing erratically, I like Detroit to take this game. Still, the Indians and the K.C. Royals would like the Tigers to take notice – the divisional contenders will have to be reckoned with in 2014.<\/p>\n