Cleveland Indians: Now or never for 2021 Tribe

The big wrong of spring training was finally righted, as Bobby Bradley was finally promoted to the Cleveland Indians with the task of manning first base.

Now, the Indians (32-27) have to take care of business on the field if they’re truly going to threaten the White Sox, a team the Tribe happens to play pretty well against when going head-to-head. The Tribe opens the weekend 4.5 games back of Chicago.

As the Tribe opens a three-game series against the Mariners, the schedule couldn’t be more favorable to Terry Francona’s group. After three games against Seattle (31-33), the Tribe gets two last place teams–Baltimore at home and then Pittsburgh on the road.

After a two game sting against the Cubs, the Indians close out June againts the Twins and hapless Tigers.

Excluding the two-game Cubs series, ideally, the Indians will win all five of these series, while earning a sweep in at least oneone. No I haven’t forgotten that the Tribe recently dropped a series to the Mariners and the Orioles recently.

Starting pitching holding Cleveland Indians back

How the Indians perform over the next week to week and a half will depend a lot on what Francona gets from his starting pitching. When Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale aren’t pitching, there’s an outstanding chance the the Tribe is going to end up losing the game in the first two innings.

Ideally, Triston McKenzie will be able to pitch at least five innings, as he’s done in his last two outings. He struck out 10 in his last start, but surrendered five earned runs, a well. On the positive side, he’s only walked a combined five batters in his last two starts, which spanned 10.1 innings. McKenzie has allowed for or more walks in six of his 10 starts. For a guy who’s fastball reliant, that’s devastating, evidenced by the eight bombs he’s already allowed.

As for the lineup, I’m not sure how much else will change now that Bradley is here. At Triple-A,  Daniel Johnson isn’t hitting. Neither is Oscar Mercado. Unless the Tribe makes a trade at the deadline, the current roster is pretty much who the fan base has to dance with.

By the Fourth of July, we should have an idea of the Indians can truly hang with the White Sox in the standings. If they can, the 2021 campaign could make for an exciting finish.