MLB Preview: Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Indians
Written By David Hess (Follow me on Twitter @DavidHess311)
When: 4:10 PM ET, Monday April 4, 2016
Where: Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio
Lines: Boston -109/ Cleveland -101
Total: 6.5 (u20)
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Will the pitching hold up this year for the Sox? That will be the question this year. They will go only as far as their pitching will take them. They did upgrade it with the addition of David Price, but unfortunately for the Red Sox he can’t pitch every night. They have a few nice arms in Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez, but they also have Rick Porcello and no depth should any of their starters go down. This team will really be in trouble if Price goes down as he is far and away their best starter. Porcello needs good defense behind him to be successful and he doesn’t have that, plus Buchholz is injury prone and Rodriguez is already on the DL. If only Price could pitch every day. The offense should again be solid for Red Sox and so is the bullpen, especially the backend with Kimbrel and Uehara, so if they don’t make the playoffs it will not be their fault. Getting the start in this one will be David Price, who went a combined 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA for the Tigers and Blue Jays, which includes an 11-2 mark with a 2.05 ERA on the road. He has some nice career numbers vs the Tribe, going 9-2 with a 2.19 ERA overall, including a mark of 4-0 with a 2.15 GAA in six career starts here at Progressive Field. Last year the Red Sox were 6th in the league in hitting (.265). 4th in runs scored (748) and 15th in homers (161). On the mound the numbers were not so good for this team as they were 25th in the league in ERA at 4.31 and 23rd in WHIP at 1.36. Those pitching numbers should improve some with the addition of Price.
The Cleveland Indians are usually the sexzy pick to win the American League Central and every year they disappoint their backers. Could this finally be their year? This is a team that has some nice young talent with Francisco Lindor at SS, Jason Kipnis and 2nd and Tyler Naquin in the OF. They will also patiently away the return of OF Michael Brantley, who will start the year on the DL. That young talent will mix with newcomers like Mike Napoli, Marlon Byrd and Juan Uribe. The pitching staff is led by 2014 CY Young award winner Corey Kluber. His is joined by some solid arms in Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. Last year Tribe starters led the majors in strikeout rate at 24.2%. The Bullpen was not very good last year, but it has been upgraded with the addition of Joba Chamberlain. I do like the makeup of this team this year. Getting the start in this game for Cleveland will be Corey Kluber, who had a rough year after winning the CY Young in 2014. Last year he went just 9-16 with a 3.45 ERA in 32 starts, which includes going just 6-8 with a 2.83 ERA here at Progressive field in 16 starts. He has faced the Red Sox seven times in his career, with six of them being starts and he is just 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA in those appearances. Last year Cleveland was 11th in the league in hitting at .256, 18th in runs scored at 669 and 22nd in homers with 141. On the mound they were 8th in the league in ERA at 3.67 and 4th in WHIP at 1.19. If the offense can come around this year then the Tribe will fight for the division title all year.
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Free Baselball Play
[967] Boston -109 over Cleveland
I like the Tribe this year to be a player in the AL Central this year, but I like the Sox in this game and the reason is that Cleveland still has a couple of questions on offense and David Price has dominated this team in his career, especially here where he has never lost. I also give Boston the edge in the pen as well, especially the backend, plus their offense gets the edge as well. Boston finished last year losing three straight to the Tribe and they have lost their last six here, but that streak will come to an end behind the arm of David Price.
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