Indians Opening Day: Everything you need to know for the start of the 2021 season

The Cleveland Indians will start one of the more interesting seasons they’ve had in their recent history this week. The team is dramatically different than years past and several key pieces are missing, but the Indians made several key trades over the last few years to bring in players like Franmil Reyes, Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, and Emmanuel Clase among others.

Those players will need to step up in a big way if they’re going to be able to secure an Opening Day win, as well as the series. The AL Central is far more competitive than in recent years, and the chase for this division isn’t going to be easy at all.

So what about Opening Day?

Versus

The Indians will be playing the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers have not had a winning season since 2016 and the odds of them turning that around in 2021 aren’t great.

Where

It’s Opening Day for the Indians, but for the Detroit Tigers, it’s their Home Opener. The Tribe will go up to Comerica Park and play their first game against them on Thursday and will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday.

When

The first pitch is tossed at 1:10 PM ET on Thursday, April 1. Both teams will have a day off on Friday before spending the next two days finishing off the series.

Projected Starters

As of right now, The Ace of the AL Shane Bieber will be toeing the rubber for the Indians, while Matthew Boyd will take the lead for the Tigers.

Potential lineup

While the Tribe hasn’t revealed who will start, Terry Francona did mention that Jordan Luplow may start in center for the team on Thursday, as Amed Rosario has struggled to adapt to playing center field for the Indians. Rosario was part of the trade that sent Francisco Lindor to the Mets.