Oakland Athletics’ Series Preview: Five Questions About the Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are headed to town, and they’re struggling just as much as the A’s. Heading into Wednesday’s blowout 12-1 win over the Royals, the Tribe had dropped six in a row. Their play since the All-Star break has been so bad that the team has become sellers just days before the trade deadline. The Indians and the Oakland Athletics will pair off four four games, in a battle of last-place teams.
Must Read: Evaluating Edward Mujica As the A’s New Closer
While the series itself might not matter in terms of the playoffs, there are plenty of individuals to keep an eye on. The Tribe is slated to send Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Cody Anderson and Trevor Bauer to the mound, in a never-ending rotation of young, hard-throwing right-handers.
The A’s have yet to announce most of their scheduled starters for the series, as the rotation and the bullpen are now missing Scott Kazmir, Tyler Clippard and, of course, Jesse Hahn. These losses have created some uncertainty as to what shape the rotation will take going forward. However, Toledo, OH naive Chris Bassitt will take the mound for the series’ opener on Thursday.
Cleveland is a world away from the West Coast, so we checked in with Wahoo’s on First writer Andrew Schmid, who has kept a much closer eye on the Tribe than the average A’s fan has. Here’s what he had to say about the 46-54 Indians’ team:
More from White Cleat Beat
- Zach Logue yet another disappointing Oakland A’s trade return
- Luis Barrera heading to familiar foe in Los Angeles Angels
- Looking back at Ruben Sierra with the Oakland A’s
- San Francisco Giants showing Oakland A’s offseason could be worse
- Lucas Luetge what Oakland A’s need in bullpen
The Tribe traded away David Murphy on Tuesday, sending him to the Angels in exchange for infield prospect Eric Stamets, who isn’t exactly a high-impact name. Will they make any other big moves at the trade deadline?
AS: The Cleveland Indians would be foolish not to move any other players at the deadline. A guy like Ryan Raburn who has played well in limited plate appearances could have some sort of trade value to a team with a need at either second base or in the outfield. His right-handed bat could be just what a team like the New York Mets needs to quick-start a struggling offense. Even [former Athletic] Brandon Moss could fetch the team some return, despite the fact that he has batted below league average this season.
Jason Kipnis is red hot, batting .330/.405/.485 this season. He’s also slugged six homers and swiped 11 bases. What’s been the key to his success in 2015?
AS: Perhaps the biggest key to Kipnis’s success has been his transformation into a line drive hitter. Before entering the season, he hit a lot of fly balls, which was fine for a while due to his average home run to fly ball ratio. Last season, this rate plummeted, causing his performance to tank. This year, he has increased his line drive rate to nearly 30 percent, while slashing fly balls, which has allowed Kipnis to get close to his career bests in double and triples halfway through the season.
Somehow, despite it being a four game set, the A’s will miss Tribe ace Corey Kluber. Which other pitcher should they be most afraid of facing this series?
AS: The A’s should be most afraid of facing Carlos Carrasco. Despite posting an ERA in the low fours, his FIP of 2.90 is nearly as good as Kluber’s, and his xFIP is even better than the reigning Cy Young Award winner’s. Armed with an electric arsenal, it will be interesting to see if Carrasco will continue to strike out batters at his current rate, given that the A’s strike out the third-least in the American League.
More from White Cleat Beat
- Zach Logue yet another disappointing Oakland A’s trade return
- Luis Barrera heading to familiar foe in Los Angeles Angels
- Looking back at Ruben Sierra with the Oakland A’s
- San Francisco Giants showing Oakland A’s offseason could be worse
- Lucas Luetge what Oakland A’s need in bullpen
Yan Gomes has suffered some setbacks this year, after missing time with an injury. Is he as good behind the plate as he was last year, and how has his hitting been affected?
AS: The Yanimal has been a bit of a disappointment this year, and I think that some of this can be attributed to the injury that he sustained earlier in the year. Despite hitting roughly the same number of fly balls, he has struggled to go deep this year. I expect Gomes to start batting better shortly, as he is hitting a high number of line drives that are going to start falling in for hits, and he has played very well in past Augusts. As for his defense, it isn’t as good as it was in the past, and most fielding metrics would rate his work as league average.
If the Athletics were looking for one thing to pounce on when Cleveland comes to town, what would you say the Indians’ biggest weakness is?
AS: Right now, the Athletics needs to pounce on the Indians’ pitching. Since the All-Star break, the team has pitched to an atrocious 5.36 ERA. Much of these struggles stem from an 18.4 percent home run to fly ball ratio, which is due to regress but still remains a weakness. If the A’s can find a way to avoid striking out, they could very easily score a lot of runs, as the Indians’ defense has been notably horrible this season, and the team has the highest gap between ERA and FIP in the American League.
Thanks again to Andrew Schmid and Wahoo’s on First for taking the time to answer some big questions about the upcoming series.