Can the Cleveland Indians improve against the NL in 2018?

 The Cleveland Indians played miserably against the National League in 2017. Can they turn their interleague play around again in 2018?

Interleague play wasn’t a strong suit for the Cleveland Indians last season. The Tribe went an abysmal 6-15 against the National League in their 2017 campaign. Three of those losses came from a sweep against the Arizona Diamondbacks at the start of the season.

2018 could be a little more interesting, as the Indians will have to play against a top-heavy NL Central. One of the highlights of this schedule is a 2016 World Series rematch against the Chicago Cubs.

The Indians NL schedule includes home/road series against both the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers. As for the “Ohio Cup,” the Indians will see the Cincinnati Reds as part of a 10-game homestand before the All-Star break. They’ll face them again in September on the road in Cincinnati to conclude interleague play.

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Last year the Indians were outscored by a total of 20 runs in interleague play, and a lot of the games weren’t really that close. A lot of these games did come at low points in the Tribe’s 2017 season.

FanGraphs has both the Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals projected in the top 10 with the Cubs winning the division and the Cardinals as the first Wild Card.

Last season the Indians faced three NL playoff teams in the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Rockies.

Some things worth noting if you take a look at the 2018 interleague schedule are that two of the four games against the Cubs will be broadcast on ESPN.

One of those comes during a tough nine-game stretch where the Indians will face the Houston Astros, the Cubs, and then the Astros again. Also the tickets for the series in St. Louis are going for as low as $5; if you’re looking to take a cheap road trip.

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The Indians have some relief as the Brewers are a projected 91-loss team and the Pittsburgh Pirates look like they’re selling the farm. Regardless, Tribe fans should expect the team to do much better in interleague play in 2018.