Next Up: Indians visit Detroit

The Cleveland Indians just finished a six-game homestand against the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners, two teams hovering over the basements of their respective divisions. They failed to capitalize, however, on their apparent advantage on paper and slipped back into the netherworld of sub-par performance.

Starting their last homestand, the Indians had won 15 of their previous 20 games and were an optimistic one game under .500 with a record of 26-27. Six games later, they are at 28-31 and have found a basement of their own: last place in the AL Central, seven games out. The Indians are now 5-5 in their last ten games.

The Detroit Tigers have been in a tailspin of their own. When they lost to the Angels on the road on May 28, it would be the first of eight consecutive losses they would endure. They were swept in the four-game series by the Angels, then they were swept at home by the Athletics in a three-game series, then they lost one to the White Sox in Chicago before they woke up and won two in a row against the Chisox.

Over their last ten games, the Tigers are 3-7 and are in third place behind Kansas City and the Twins, 4 1/2 games out of first place.

So what’s up with Detroit?

Offensively, the Tigers lead the American League with a .274 batting average and a .335 on-base-percentage. They’re second in the AL with a .745 OPS and third with a .410 slugging percentage. Oddly, however, they are only ninth in runs scored with 248, actually trailing the Indians, who are fifth in the AL with 253 runs. What gives? We certainly know of the Tribe’s woes hitting with runners in scoring position (12th in the AL at .227). But the Tigers are hitting almost 50 points higher with RISP, at .275.

Whatever, if anything, ails the Tigers offense, however, if recent history is any indication, they are likely to find some solutions against the Indians. Detroit has already won five of six against Cleveland this year and is hitting a whopping .330 as a team against Indians pitching. Almost needless to say, Miguel Cabrera has owned the Tribe this year, with 15 hits in 23 at bats for a .652 batting average.

Starting pitchers for the three-game series:

LHP, David Price (5-2, 2.70, 74 Ks) vs. Danny Salazar (6-1, 3.50, 81 Ks)
RHP, Justin Verlander (has not played) vs. Carlos Carrasco (7-5, 4.35, 77 Ks)
RHP, Alfredo Simon (6-3, 2.76, 51 Ks) vs. Corey Kluber (3-7, 3.53, 109 Ks)

Justin Verlander sustained an injury near the end of Spring Training, a strained right triceps, and has not played at all this season, but he returns Saturday against the Indians. Verlander is now 32 years old and has spent his entire career thus far with the Tigers. His performance in 2011 won him, not only the Cy Young Award, but also the American League MVP award. That year he went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA. The following year, 2012, he went 17-8 with a 2.64 ERA and came in second in the Cy Young Award voting. In 2013 he slipped a bit to 13-12 with a 3.46 ERA and, in 2014, his ERA slipped further to 4.54, though his won-loss record improved to 15-12. So for the Tigers, who have had some challenges with their starting pitching of late, Verlander’s return to active duty surely has Detroit hoping for big things out of their big right hander.

The Indians’ and Tigers’ pitching staffs are close to each other statistically in just about every category except, as you might surmise, strikeouts. Indians pitchers lead the major leagues with 563 Ks. The Tigers are 26th out of 30 with 396. But, as we’ve seen, lots of strikeouts do not necessarily mean lots of wins.

The other side of the coin of hitting with RISP is pitching with RISP. And neither the Indians nor the Tigers have done very well in that department. Team ERAs with RISP are: Indians, 12.02 (11th in the AL); Tigers 12.61 (14th in the AL). Opposing batting average with RISP are: Indians .272 (13th in the AL); Tigers .266 (11th in the AL).

Over the decades, Cleveland and Detroit have had an interesting baseball rivalry, but the Tigers have clearly been the better franchise historically. When comparing the Indians with other teams over the past 50 years or so, it’s amazing how often the trade of Rocky Colavito to the Tigers seems to jut out as the defining moment in the two teams’ historical trends and rankings.

That trade in April 1960 (for Harvey Kuenn) still sends up a flare’s flame and smoke as if to say, “Look here, this is where we needed to be saved from ourselves.” But five days before the Colavito trade, the Indians sent Norm Cash to the Tigers for pitcher, Steve Demeter. So April of 1960 was really a double-whammy of incompetence. Just imagine if GM Frank Lane had kept both Colavito and Norm Cash, but the only trades that Trader Lane regretted were the ones he didn’t make. Did he really enjoy trading people that much? A few months later, in August 1960, Lane actually traded his manager, Joe Gordon for the Tigers’ manager, Jimmy Dykes.

Cleveland and Detroit have been involved in 17 trades since the Gordon-Dykes transaction, but none was as important as those just prior to the 1960 season. The most recent, the trade of Jhonny Peralta for minor league pitcher, Giovanni Soto, was in July 2010. That trade was perhaps a harbinger of a different kind. The Indians were never really satisfied with Peralta, but two successful franchises, Detroit and St. Louis, have found success with him at shortstop, even considering his 2013 50-game suspension while with Detroit. Soto, age 24, is currently with the Columbus Clippers.

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During a game between the Indians and Mariners a few days ago, Rick Manning and Matt Underwood discussed the ever decreasing incidents of arguments between managers and umpires, undoubtedly the result of the availability of replay reviews to quickly (or sometimes not so quickly) settle the argument without grown men screaming at each other. There wasn’t any suggestion that those nose-to-nose quarrels would be missed as a quaint and enjoyable part of baseball tradition. Rick and Matt were simply pointing out in a matter-of-fact way that the replay process is catching on as an acceptable means of getting the call correct.

They also pointed out that the only arguments that are left to be had now are over ball and strike calls. Hmmm …

On occasion, we can watch a game where strike zone mistakes are kept to a bare minimum, but more often than not pitchers and hitters are routinely exasperated over obvious mistakes by the home plate umpire. On Tuesday, against the Mariners, with Corey Kluber pitching, Kyle Seager at bat and Dale Scott behind the plate, Scott so surprised Kluber on a called ball four that Kluber bent over, put his hands on his knees and looked like he was about to be sick on the mound. When Corey Kluber is that demonstrative, you have to figure something’s out of whack with the strike zone. The trouble is, of course, nothing can be done about it.

Oh, wait a minute, yes there is.

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