Indians place Jason Kipnis on 15-day DL
August 3, 2015Rooting for Terrelle Pryor, an abbreviated While We’re Waiting…
August 4, 2015The Cleveland Indians entered the 2015 with a lot of promise, having a pitching rotation chock full of electric arms, including last year’s AL Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber, and an offense that looked like it had a lot of balance up and down the lineup. Instead, the Tribe has greatly disappointed, currently eight games under .500. But fortunately for the Cleveland, they’re only six games out of a Wild Card berth with two months left in the slate.
The Indians will have an opportunity to gain some ground on the playoff race right away, as they gear up for a series with one of the current Wild Card teams, that being the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Surprisingly, tickets are averaging only $34 for all three games according to SeatSmart, with the get-in price remarkably being a mere $5 or less for each contest as well, illustrating terrific value in Indians tickets as they seek to turn their season back around.
After their series at Angel Stadium, the Indians return home to Progressive Field, where they’ll have a couple more crucial series against teams in front of them in the standings. The first of those matchups pits Cleveland against the division rival Minnesota Twins, who currently hold the American League’s second Wild Card berth. This will provide the Indians with back-to-back chances at minimizing their deficit towards a playoff spot. After that, the first-place New York Yankees come to town for what will surely be a very live series, as it usually is when the Bronx Bombers are involved. With an average price of $68.22, these tickets to see the Yankees and Indians rank amongst the highest out of all home series the Indians have left this year.
After trading away two key outfielders in Brandon Moss and David Murphy, the Indians will look for production from other avenues within their lineup. Their faint playoff hopes may now rely on the likes of Tyler Holt, Jerry Sands and Lonnie Chisenhall, the first wave of minor league prospects called up to assume critical positions for the Tribe over the final two months of the campaign.
For sure, if the Indians have any chance of making any type of legitimate late-season run, they’ll need their steady veterans Michael Brantley (.299, 8 HR, 56 RBIs) and All-Star Jason Kipnis (.326 6 HR, 39 RBIs) to do what they’ve done all season, but in the end, the newbies will have to make the difference.
Indians manager Terry Francona has worked magic before, most notably he led the Boston Red Sox in ending their historic World Series title drought, but the current task in front of him will be as tough as any he’s dealt with. It’s now-or-never time for Cleveland.
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And right on cue, Kipnis goes to the DL.
At minimum, CLE would have to go 40-17 the rest of the way to be in the hunt…
http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/hlstn.gif
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition…
Almost as bad as watching the Indians play.