Cleveland Indians: Previewing the duel with the Kansas City Royals

The Cleveland Indians look to wrap up their long road trip with a positive note, as they head to Kauffman Stadium to take on their lowly division rivals, the Kansas City Royals.

It’s been another stressful road trip for the Cleveland Indians. After dropping two games to the Cardinals, they dropped two games against the A’s out west. Fortunately the Indians were able to avoid the sweep with a booming 15-3 win in Oakland. Now the Indians get the pleasure of facing one of the worst teams in baseball.

The 2015 World Series feels like decades ago when you look at this current Royals squad. They’ve lost much of that roster and now sit among the cellar of the MLB. Only the Baltimore Orioles have a worse record than the Royals’ 25-58 record

The Royals aren’t playing much better now either. They’re 3-7 in their last ten games and now face a Tribe team that has already beaten them in two series’ this year. The Indians are 4-2 against the Royals and have dominated the AL Central all season. Now they can continue to build on their substantial division lead. Here’s how these two squads stack up.

Projected lineups

Cleveland Indians (45-37) vs Kansas City Royals (25-58)

Cleveland Indians: SS Francisco Lindor, LF Michael Brantley, 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Edwin Encarnacion, 1B Yonder Alonso, RF Lonnie Chisenhall, 2B Jason Kipnis, C Yan Gomes, CF Tyler Naquin.

Kansas City Royals: 2B Whit Merrifield, DH Rosell Herrera, 3B Mike Moustakas, C Salvador Perez, 1B Hunter Dozier, RF Jorge Bonifacio, LF Alex Gordon, CF Alcides Escobar, SS Adalberto Mondesi

Now before I get to how the Indians stars are continuing to roll, let me talk about someone who is not in the everyday lineup. Rajai Davis had himself a terrific month of June. He batted .324 with an .807 .OPS. He’s also got 16 stolen bases and has only been caught three times. Props to you Rajai, we see what you’re doing. Oh, Jason Kipnis has a .919 OPS in his last 15 games. Wave to the haters, Kip!

Now look at that Royals lineup. Alcides Escobar is now playing centerfield instead of his normal shortstop position thanks to injuries to Abraham Almonte and Jon Jay. They’ve used a rotation of Rosell Herrera, Jorge Bonifacio and Salvador Perez around the DH position. If you want to find consistency, suggest you look elsewhere from the Royals outfield.