Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians 4/10/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Detroit Tigers travel on the road to Progressive Field to meet up with the Cleveland Cavaliers. These two met up on opening day with the Tigers upsetting the Indians in the opening two, before falling in the series finale 9-3. Detroit then hosted the Twins and dropped two of three at home falling 3-2 on the year to drop to 3-3 on the year. The Indians beat the Royals their last time out 4-2, improving to 4-2 on the year. 

Both teams have had their inconsistencies at the plate with the Tigers coming in 16th in the MLB in batting averaging batting .223 as a team. They've been a lot of contributors with 3rd baseman  Jemier Candelario leading the way batting .261 and driving in 2 runs. Centerfielder Akil Baddoo has been red-hot in his four games, batting .455 and leading the Tigers with 2 homeruns and 7 runs batted in.

Tarik Skubal, the lengthy lefthander out of California will get the ball for the Tigers in his second start of the season. The first time the Indians saw him, they mustered 4 hits and 2 runs over 5.1 innings with Skubal striking out 4 and walking 2. It is just Skubal’s second year in the league, he started 7 games posting a 5.63 ERA in his rookie year.

The Indians come in hitting .215 as a team ranking 18th in the MLB but they’ve struggled to turn those base-runners into runs averaging just a shade of 3 runs per game in their first five games. Jose Rameriez has put together a solid start to the season, he’s 7/20 to lead the Indians in batting average, whilst leading the team in homeruns with 2 and tied in RBIs with 4. Left fielder Josh Naylor has also been solid batting .263 on the year.

Aaron Civale will ge the ball for his second start of the season, he took it to the Tigers in his first start pitching 7 innings, striking out 6 and walking 3 giving up just 2 hits and 3 earned runs. It is just their third year in the league but he’s had a good start to his career posting a lifetime 3.70 ERa and an impressive 3.5 K/BB ratio across is 138 innings.

The Indians are expected to compete for the AL North division and I expect them to avenge a rough start against the Tigers in the early season by handing the Tigers. The Indians were able to handle the Indians yesterday with a 4-1 win and they’re going to build off of their two-game win streak.