Cleveland Indians-Seattle Mariners Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Seattle Mariners Series Preview 4/19-4/21

The Cleveland Indians (5-5) continue their homestand by opening a three-game set versus the Seattle Mariners (5-7). Like with the Boston Red Sox earlier this year, this will be the Mariners only trip to Cleveland this season. The Tribe will look to get back on the winning path after dropping two of three to the New York Mets this weekend while the Mariners just took two of three from the Yankees in New York.

In 2015, the Cleveland Indians went 4-3 versus the Seattle Mariners, while outscoring them 27 to 23. The Tribe will send out Carlos Carrasco tonight followed by Danny Salazar and Cody Anderson. The Mariners meanwhile will go with lefty Wade Miley tonight followed by righties Taijuan Walker and Nate Karns. The Tribe will miss Mariners’ ace Felix Hernandez in this series, which I don’t think anyone will shed a tear over…

More from Away Back Gone

The biggest news could be the return of Lonnie Chisenhall to the lineup. As mentioned yesterday, it sounds like he could be activated from the disabled list tomorrow, assuming all goes well today in his final rehab game with the Double-A Akron Rubberducks. It’s a good time to activate him as the left-handed hitting Chisenhall would miss the left-handed starter Miley and be available to play against right-handers Walker and Karns. The most interesting part of his appearance yesterday was the fact that he started in centerfield, not right field. It was Chisenhall’s first professional appearance in centerfield. Normal starting center fielder, top prospect Bradley Zimmer, moved over to right field to make room for Chisenhall. Perhaps it was nothing but it could be an interesting development…

Keys to the Series

The key for the Tribe will be getting the offense going more consistently. They’ve had some big games so far, including scoring 11 runs in the first two games against the Mets’ highly regarded pitching staff. However, they have also had extreme cold spells as we saw on Sunday when they were shutout by rookie Steven Matz. While the Tribe will miss “King Felix” they still will be faced with a tough lefty in Miley and a former top prospect in Walker who may finally be coming into his own as a starter (2.25 ERA on the young season).

As with any series the Indians will need their starting pitching to be on point, but maybe more importantly, they need the defense behind those starters to do their job. The Indians can’t be giving away free runs like we saw in Sunday’s game against the Mets. While one can’t control the sun, these are big leaguers and routine plays need to be made.

Players on the Mend

In addition to Chisenhall rehabbing, Michael Brantley once again made an appearance for the Double-A Akron Rubberducks last night. He went 0 for 3 with a walk in seven innings in left field. He’ll get an off day today before possibly heading back out tomorrow for another game. His biggest test could be coming this weekend as he may finally play back-to-back games as he works his way back from offseason shoulder surgery.

Next: Indians Banking on Old Guys...For Now

Right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter also made a rehab appearance yesterday, pitching two innings for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. It was the first time that Hunter had gone more than an inning and he looked sharp allowing just one hit and striking out a batter. There’s still no word on how soon he could be back but going multiple innings is a big step in the right direction for him. He still hasn’t pitched without at least two days of rest though so getting more work in shorter periods of time is likely the next (and possibly last) step in his road back from a core body injury that kept him out of spring training.

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