Cleveland Indians: Previewing the weekend series in Minnesota

The Cleveland Indians will look to continue their hot streak against a struggling Minnesota Twins team.

The Cleveland Indians have found themselves on a bit of a tear recently. They took the last two games against the Astros and swept the White Sox. If only they could play the White Sox every game.

But since they can’t, another team in the AL Central will do. The Minnesota Twins are on a downward spiral after dropping two of three to the Royals and getting swept by the Mariners.

The Twins were right behind the Indians in the Central for a while. They now sit at 5.5 games back and have actually been surpassed by the Detroit Tigers. The last time these teams met, they split two games in Puerto Rico. Here’s how these teams stack up this time around.

Projected Lineups

Cleveland Indians (29-25) vs Minnesota Twins (22-29)

Cleveland Indians: SS Francisco Lindor, LF Michael Brantley, 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Edwin Encarnacion,  1B Yonder Alonso, RF Melky Cabrera, 2B Jason Kipnis, C Yan Gomes, CF Greg Allen

Minnesota Twins: 2B Brian Dozier, LF Eddie Rosario, 3B Miguel Sano, 1B Logan Morrison, SS Eduardo Escobar, RF Max Kepler, DH Robbie Grossman, CF Ryan LaMarre, C Mitch Garver

To make matters worse for the Twins, their young stud Byron Buxton hit the disabled list after suffering a toe injury. The Twins will also have Ehire Adrianza play at shortstop in this series. The Twins don’t exactly have anyone in their lineup blowing people away. Eddie Rosario has arguably been their best hitter this year with a batting average of .305 and a weighted on-base average of .363.

The Indians have had their fair share of injuries to boot. But they have played well in spite of them. The Tribe currently has five hitters with over 30 RBIs, the only team in baseball with as many. It seems like every bat in the Indians lineup is hot right now as they are smoking baseballs to smithereens.

That said, few hitters in baseball are as hot as the duo of Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez. The two are top 10 in almost every major batting stat in baseball and Brantley is on a 19-game hit streak. Ramirez, on the other hand, is tied with Mookie Betts with 17 home runs and sits one homer behind league leaders Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and JD Martinez.