Series preview: Indians at Blue Jays (May 13-15)

The Tribe finish this road trip with a three game set in the former Town of York and the Blue Jays. This series will also conclude our season series with the Blue Jays for 2014.

• Tuesday's game is at 7:07 PM (Masterson vs. Dickey)
• Wednesday's game is at 7:07 PM (Kluber vs. McGowan)
• Thursday's game is at 7:07 PM (Salazar vs. Happ)

After a short flight home and the Indians will welcome the A's and Tigers to Progressive Field..

Division Watch: Tigers at Orioles, White Sox at A's, Rockies at Royals, Red Sox at Twins.

Team in a Box

*all stats through Sunday's games except overall record

We saw the Blue Jays almost a month ago, when we lost two of three to them. Since then, they have been on a series of streaks. They lost four in a row to Baltimore and Boston shortly after our last series with them. Last week they won five in a row, including four straight against the Phillies. They then proceeded to lose three in a row to the Angels before pulling out the series finale against them last night.

The Blue jays can definitely score runs, as the second in runs per game can attest to. They are doing mainly via the power stroke however, with the on base percentage fairly low overall. The pitching staff has been the biggest culprit as they walk too many hitters and allow too many baserunners. They do strike out a decent amount of hitters which means some of our guys will likely whiff a bit this weekend. Their defense leads the league in fewest errors, but they have only turned the ninth most double plays.

Projected Roster

The roster has undergone a few changes since last we met. Ryan Goins and Munenori Kawasaki were both optioned out. Moises Sierra was designated for assignment with the White Sox claiming him. Until last night they were playing with three bench players, including two catchers. Erik Kratz was sent down and Jonathan Diaz was recalled to provide more flexibility. That will come in handy as Rasmus tweaked his hamstring last night. Tolleson took over in the outfield, but Anthony Gose might be recalled if Rasmus gets DL'ed. Lawrie was just activated and will likely play more second base as the Blue Jays intend to give more time to Francisco.

Projected Staff

In a scheduling quirk, we will not face any of the starters that pitched in the opening series. The one guy who we would have likely doubled up on was Brandon Morrow, but he was disabled a week ago. Happ has taken his spot in the rotation. He does have two starts, one with five shutout innings and the second where he was knocked out in the third. Neither Dickey nor McGowan have pitched all that well in 2014. Luckily we miss our old nemesis Buerhle as he won the game last night and seems to be the only starter doing decently.

The bullpen has had a shakeup as well. Closer Sergio Santos landed on the DL on Sunday. Janssen was activated over the weekend and is slated to take over in that role temporarily. He made his debut last night and threw one shutout inning. Neil Wagner was demoted and both Strohman and Jenkins were added over the weekend.

On the Shelf

• 2B Maicer Izturis [60 day DL], out 4-6 months
• SP Brandon Morrow [60 day DL] , possibly mid-July
• RP Sergio Santos [15 day DL] , just DL'ed, no timetable for return
• 3B Brett Lawrie [day-to-day], has not played since May 5

Almanac