Cleveland Indians Roundup: Abraham Almonte Starts Rehab Assignment; Detroit Tigers Series Preview

Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers open a new series

The Cleveland Indians opened a new series against the Detroit Tigers last night, and our own Matt Bretz previewed the three-game set.  The Indians entered the series with a four-game lead over the third-place Tigers, and the series looked to be a good opportunity to knock out a division rival.  To accomplish this task, the Indians will need their starters to continue dominating rivals, and the offense will need to show an ability to score runs when on the road. 

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Danny Salazar took the hill for the Tribe last night against Jordan Zimmerman.  Both pitchers have pitched well this season, but Salazar has been something special.  His 2.23 pre-game earned run average was second among all American league pitchers, and he also held the top mark for strikeouts per nine innings.

Carlos Carrasco will face Anibal Sanchez tonight in a game that the Cleveland Indians should be able to win.  Carrasco currently has a two-and-one-half-run lead over Sanchez in his earned run average and advanced metrics seem to fortify the claim that Carrasco is a vastly superior pitcher.

In other news, Abraham Almonte has begun a rehab assignment, which has led Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com to ponder the specifics of his return.  For one, he notes that the outfielder could spend time in the minor leagues.  Should the team start him in the major leagues, however, someone will have to be sent down to Triple-A.  This could be a tough decision for the Cleveland Indians since the current outfield seems to be working out well enough.

An interesting idea is that the Tribe could move Juan Uribe, but Hoynes notes that this is probably unlikely since he can be very deceiving.

On a final non-news topic, I would like to make a brief advertisement to vote for the Major League Baseball All-Star game.  We now have a week or so remaining to cast ballots, and no members of the Cleveland Indians are slated to start the game.  Francisco Lindor, for one, deserves to be in the game but might not make the cut without our support.

More from around the American League Central:

Cleveland Indians-Detroit Tigers Series Preview – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians Sweep Rays, Homestand, and Month of June – Wahoo’s on First

Who Gets Knocked Off Roster If Cleveland Indians Activate Abraham Almonte? – Cleveland.com

Rotation Driving Indians, Giving Bullpen a Break – Indians.com