Cleveland Indians vs. Tampa Bay Rays series preview

The extensive rain during the Cubs series has created a shuffling of the rotation and staff. A pair of relievers were called up and Shaun Marcum was designated for assignment again after Wednesday's blowout. Trevor Bauer was originally to pitch on Sunday, but has been pushed back to Monday against the Tigers. Potential starters for Sunday are Cody Anderson, Toru Murata and Michael Roth.

• Friday 7:10 PM: Nate Karns (R) vs. Carlos Carrasco (R)
• Saturday 7:10 PM: Erasmo Ramirez (R) vs. Corey Kluber (R)
• Sunday 1:10 PM: Alex Colome (R) vs. TBD

The Rays have been hot lately, winning 12 of their past 16 games. They just took three of four from the Nationals and swept the White Sox prior to that.

Division Watch: Red Sox at Royals, Cubs at Twins, Tigers at Yankees, Rangers at White Sox.

Coming up: The Indians wrap up this home stand with the Tigers coming in from Monday through Wednesday. After a much needed day off on Thursday the Tribe will embark on trip through Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Pittsburgh.

Team in a Box

The Rays lead the AL East by a game, which is impressive. Take a peek at that lengthy injury list below; they are missing three from the rotation rotation and three from the lineup. Granted, the AL East is a tad watered down this year, but to be eight games over .500 right now with all those injuries is a testament to the depth they have as an organization.

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That being said, they don't hit very well. In the bottom third for almost every category, they are obviously winning because of their run prevention. With the second fewest runs allowed per game and the second most strikeouts (behind the Tribe), they are in almost every game. Oh, and they are the best fielding team in the league, at least according to the archaic fielding percentage metric.

Projected Roster

Longoria is still the main cog in this offense. Forsythe and DeJesus are both having fine seasons, but Rivera and Droobs are most definitely not. Cumulatively, the team's wRC+ is just 99 right now. They are predominantly right handed, which should help Carrasco and Kluber. Over the past two weeks, only Kiermaier and Butler have an OPS above 800.

Projected Staff

Hey look, not a lefty in sight in the rotation, plus we miss LGFT Chris Archer, who is having a breakout season. Karns has been either really good, or really poor in his past five starts, and he barely gets through the 5th inning normally. He has yet to face the Tribe. Ramirez was added to the rotation on May 14 and has won six of those eight starts, including the last four. In those past four wins he has a 1.16 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 7.3 K/9. He has one start against Cleveland, winning back in 2013. Colome has struggled recently. He has a 5.47 ERA in his past five starts, 1.82 WIP and 5.8 K/9. He won his only start against Cleveland last year, pitching 6.1 shutout innings.

On the Shelf

• CF Desmond Jennings [15 day DL], no timetable for return
• 1B James Loney [15 day DL], no timetable for return
• SP Alex Cobb [60 day DL], out for season
• C John Jaso [60 day DL], no timetable for return
• SP Matt Moore [60 day DL], possible June return
• SP Jake Odorizzi [15 day DL], no timetable for return
• SP Drew Smyly [60 day DL], possible July return
• 2B Tim Beckham [15 day DL], possible June return
• P Jeff Beliveau [60 day DL], no timetable for return
• RP Andrew Bellatti [15 day DL], no timetable for return
• P Burch Smith [60 day DL], out for season
• P Kirby Yates [15 day DL], possible June return

Almanac

*Does not include 2015 stats

Prediction: I believe the pitching matchups are favorable for the Tribe this series and they actually win another home series by taking two of three, with an outside chance they sweep.