Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians Preview

Headline - Tigers travel to Cleveland for first of 10 straight on the road

After starting the year with six straight games at home, the Detroit Tigers embark on a ten-game road trip, starting with a three-game series in Cleveland. The Tigers took two of three from Cleveland to start the year, before then dropping two of three against the Minnesota Twins.

In their opening series of the season, Detroit took advantage of a couple of great starts by Matthew Boyd and Julio Teheran to beat Cleveland Ace Shane Beiber and game two starter Zach Plesac.

The Cleveland bats finally came alive in game three as they battered Tigers starter Daniel Norris for four runs in only 1.2 innings, on their way to a 9-3 win.

Cleveland then split a mini two-game series in Kansas City and arrive home to face Detroit with a record of 2-3.

Detroit Starting Pitching

Julio Teheran 2020 Stats

10 Games, 31.1 IP

10.05 ERA, 20 K's, 1.76 WHIP

Teheran vs. Cleveland in 2021

1 Start, 5 IP

1.80 ERA, 3 K's, 1.40 WHIP

Cleveland Starting Pitching

Zach Plesac 2020 Stats

8 Games, 55.1 IP

2.28 ERA, 57 K's, 0.80 WHIP

Plesac vs. Detroit in 2021

1 Start, 6 IP

3.00 ERA, 4 K's, 1.33 WHIP

Bullpen Status

With both teams having an off day on Wednesday, expectations are that the bullpens are rested and should be ready to go for game one of this series.

Detroit Offense

.223 AVG, 23 Runs, 7 HR, .298 OBP, .389 SLG

Cleveland Offense

.215 AVG, 17 Runs, 7 HR, .302 OBP, .386 SLG

Both teams are clearly struggling with the bats early this season, as evidenced by their team batting averages. In their last series against Minnesota, Detroit scored 12 runs in the three games but only managed two runs in the series rubber match, dropping the contest 3-2 and losing the series 2-1.

From a batting average standpoint, Cleveland has been slightly worse than Detroit. In their most recent two-game series against Kansas City, Cleveland managed only four runs in two games and had a total of 11 hits, including just three hits in a 3-0 loss.

Weather

The weather in Cleveland for this game might be just what each team's offense needs. The temperatures are expected to be in the 70's when the first pitch is thrown, and there is a projected 10-15 MPH wind blowing out to left field. Any ball hit in the air to left should benefit from a little extra carry thanks to the wind.

Betting Odds

Detroit ML - (+165)

Cleveland ML - (-185)

Over / Under - 9 (-120 Over)

2020 was a train wreck of a season for Teheran, and if 2021 plays out the same way for him, it may be his last in the big leagues. His opening start against Cleveland showed some promise that maybe he has found some of his past form.  

It will be interesting to watch the Cleveland bats get a second opportunity against him and to see if Teheran can get through their order a couple times again without getting knocked around.