Cleveland Indians: One final matchup against the Tigers

Division play continues to wrap up for the Cleveland Indians as the Tigers come to town to begin the Indians final home-stand of 2018.

If you haven’t made it out to Progressive Field yet in 2018, now is the time. The Cleveland Indians are starting their final home-stand of the season before the playoffs begin in October. Home has treated the Indians nicely this year giving them a 44-28 record at Progressive Field.

Something else that has treated the Indians nicely would be the Detroit Tigers. The Indians have a 12-4 record against Detroit while scoring 93 runs against them, more than they’ve scored against any other opponent. One must admit, after watching how Detroit dominated Cleveland in the early 2010’s, it feels good to see the Tribe turn the tables on them.

The Tigers will likely finish out 2018 with less than 60-70 wins, which is actually better than I saw them finishing. This is still a resilient bunch, that gives the Indians a tough fight every now and then. Here’s how their lineups stack up for this final meeting between division rivals.

Projected Lineups

Detroit Tigers (59-87) vs. Cleveland Indians (82-64)

Detroit Tigers: 3B Jeimer Candelario, LF Christin Stewart, DH Nick Castellanos, SS Niko Goodrum, RF Mikie Mahtook, 1B Jim Adduci, C James McCann, 2B Dawel Lugo, CF Victor Reyes

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

It seems like ever since Miguel Cabrera was deemed out for the rest of the year, this Tigers lineup has been unrecognizable at some points. As has been the case for much of the AL Central. They do still have Nick Castellanos, who is holding down the fort with a .842 OPS. He’s even batting .340 in the last week.

That Indians lineup just looks beautiful. Josh Donaldson fits right in the heart of the order. You know if the Indians have Yan Gomes batting ninth, things are looking pretty good. But this lineup still needs to wake up. Fortunately, they still have a few weeks to do just that.