Puckett's Pond
Fansided

Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians Series Preview

By Benjamin Chase

CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 23: Catcher Roberto Perez
CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 23: Catcher Roberto Perez /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next

Game 1: Tuesday evening

Cleveland Indians starter: Danny Salazar, RHP
Last 5 starts vs. Minnesota: 1-2, 6.35 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 22 2/3 innings,
13/21 BB/K
Salazar has been excellent since returning on July 22nd from a nearly 2-month absence due to shoulder soreness in his pitching arm. He’s made 4 starts since his return, throwing 25 1/3 innings, with a 1.42 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and a 9/36 BB/K ratio.

Salazar has some history with Twins hitters as well. Here’s each prominent Twins hitter and their career line against Salazar:

  • Brian Dozier, 31 PA, .414/.452/.828, 6 2B, 2 HR, 2/9 BB/K
  • Joe Mauer, 24 PA, .429/.500/.762, 4 2B, HR, 3/3 BB/K
  • Eduardo Escobar, 16 PA, .214/.313/.357, 2 2B, 2/4 BB/K
  • Miguel Sano, 10 PA, .143/.400/.143, 3/4 BB/K
  • Robbie Grossman, 9 PA, .500/.556/.500, 1/2 BB/K
  • Eddie Rosario, 9 PA, .222/.222/.556, HR, 0/3 BB/K
  • Jason Castro, 8 PA, .000/.000/.000, 0/5 BB/K
  • Max Kepler, 7 PA, .429/.429/1.286, 2 HR
  • Jorge Polanco, 6 PA, .000/.333/.000, 2/0 BB/K
  • Byron Buxton, 2 PA, HR

Certainly, Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer have done very well against Salazar in multiple games of exposure, but most of the lineup really hasn’t seen much of Salazar, and the way he’s pitching, that could mean a low-scoring game early on at least.

Minnesota Twins starter: Bartolo Colon, RHP
Last 5 starts vs. Cleveland: 3-2, 4.34 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 29 IP, 3/21 BB/K
Colon has been a revelation since coming over to the Twins, especially in his last 3 starts, when he’s won two of the three, going 22 1/3 innings, with a 2.82 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with a 3/11 BB/K ratio. He’s not going to blow anyone away with velocity, but Colon has relied on the Twins defense behind him and challenged hitters to fool themselves.

The Indians key hitters in their careers against Colon:

  • Edwin Encarnacion, 20 PA, .211/.250/.263, 2B, 1/4 BB/K
  • Austin Jackson, 18 PA, .294/.333/.353, 2B, 1/6 BB/K
  • Jason Kipnis, 10 PA, .333/.300/.889, 2 2B, HR, 0/1 BB/K
  • Jay Bruce, 9 PA, .250/.333/1.000, 2 HR, 1/0 BB/K
  • Carlos Santana, 9 PA, .125/.222/.500, HR, 1/1 BB/K
  • Yan Gomes, 8 PA, .125/.125/.250, 2B, 0/2 BB/K
  • Brandon Guyer, 3 PA, .333/.333/.333
  • Francisco Lindor, 3 PA, .000/.000/.000, 0/1 BB/K
  • Jose Ramirez and Bradley Zimmer, no plate appearances

Primary bench guys Abraham Almonte and Fernando Perez also have no plate appearances against Colon. With Colon spending the last number of years in the National League, he’s really not faced most of the Indians young lineup. That could favor Colon early as guys are not used to the way Colon will move the ball and get excellent late movement on his pitches.

Let’s look at the second game…

Next: Game 2

Home/Minnesota Twins News