Cleveland Indians vs. Seattle Mariners preview

The Cleveland Indians had their historic win streak snapped last week by the Kansas City Royals. However, they currently hold the longest active win streak in MLB at 5 games. Like, are you even trying, all of the rest of baseball? The Indians, having just completed a three game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (two of which I was present for), will make the trek north to Seattle where they will face the Mariners in the penultimate weekend series of the regular season. After the weekend, the Tribe will head home to host the Minnesota Twins and hopefully ruin their hopes of making the playoffs.

Pitching matchups

Friday, 10:10 p.m. ET: Trevor Bauer (RHP) vs. Erasmo Ramirez (RHP)

Erasmo Ramirez pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays this season before being traded back to the team that signed him as an amateur free agent in 2012. At the time of the trade (Ramirez to Seattle in exchange for Steve Cishek going to Tampa Bay), both teams were hopeful of making the 2017 playoffs and having their new acquisitions playing key roles in the postseason. Now, with only a handful of games remaining, both the Rays and the Mariners are on the outside looking in. Ramirez has had a disappointing year, but he has pitched better since getting back to Seattle. On the whole for the 2017 season, Ramirez has thrown in 118.1 innings and has allowed 60 earned runs while walking 29 and striking out 97 (good for an ERA+ of 93). His most recent start came on September 16 against the Houston Astros; in that game, Ramirez went 4.0 innings and allowed 6 earned runs on 8 hits while walking 3 and striking out 5.

Trevor Bauer has pitched about as well as he did last year, which is a good thing since he’s been an above average starter for the Indians in both years. So far in 2017, Bauer has pitched 163.1 innings and has allowed 80 earned runs while walking 57 and striking out 183 (good for an ERA+ of 104). His most recent start was the infamous streak buster on September 15 against the Kansas City Royals; in that game, Bauer went 5.1 innings and allowed 4 earned runs on 9 hits while walking 1 and striking out 6.

Saturday, 4:10 p.m. ET: Carlos Carrasco (RHP) vs. Andrew Moore (RHP)

The rookie Andrew Moore made his MLB debut this season on June 22 against the Detroit Tigers and he was solid in his debut, holding the Tigers to 3 runs over 7 innings and earning his first win. Unfortunately, the rest of the season has not been kind to Moore as he has struggled to adjust to pitching to major league hitters. So far in 2017, Moore has thrown in 55.0 innings and has allowed 33 earned runs while walking 8 and striking out 28 (good for an ERA+ of 79). His most recent start came on September 17 against the Astros; in that game, Moore lasted just 4.2 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking 0 and striking out 1.

Carlos Carrasco, on the other hand, is some kind of incredible. He’d be the best starter on the team if it weren’t for that meddling Kluber. Regardless, Cookie has had a lot of success this year, pitching in 186.0 innings and allowing 72 earned runs while walking 43 and striking out 206 (good for an ERA+ of 131). His last start wasn’t great, however; on September 16 against the Royals, Cookie went 6.2 innings and gave up 4 earned runs on 8 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5.

Sunday, 4:10 p.m. ET: Corey Kluber (RHP) vs. Mike Leake (RHP)

Mike Leake started the season with the Cardinals and was dealt to the Mariners for a minor league shortstop, again with the hope that he would help Seattle find their way into the playoffs via one of the AL wildcard spots. Unfortunately, despite Leake’s best efforts, the Mariners will not be playing October baseball this season. So far in 2017, Leake has thrown in 179.1 innings and has allowed 78 earned runs while walking 37 and striking out 125 (good for an ERA+ of 109). His last start came on September 19 against the Texas Rangers; in that game, Leake went 6.2 innings and gave up 1 earned run on 6 hits while walking 0 and striking out 5.

Thanks to a recent dominant start from an ace starter on another contending AL team, Corey Kluber will have to continue his string of excellence in order to maintain his Cy Young lead. But if this year is any indication, Kluber should have no problem dominating every hitter he faces. In 2017, Kluber has pitched 191.2 innings and has allowed just 50 earned runs while walking 34 and striking out 252 (good for an ERA+ of 195; to put that into perspective, his ERA+ in 2014, the year that he won his first Cy Young award, was 160). His most recent start was another example of vintage Corey Kluber destruction; on September 17 against the Kansas City Royals, Kluber went 7.0 innings and allowed 0 runs on 3 hits while walking 0 and striking out 9.

Seattle Mariners roster

• 40-man roster
• Depth chart

FanGraphs