DETROIT -- The Indians trailed at the end of the first 24 frames they played to start the 2021 season. But the spark they had desperately sought finally ignited in the seventh inning on Sunday.
Thanks to a two-run single from Yu Chang, two-run homers from Jordan Luplow and Franmil Reyes and a solo shot from Austin Hedges, the Indians avoided an opening series sweep with a 9-3 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park. The victory also prevented Cleveland from starting the year 0-3 for the first time since 2009.
Through the first three games, the Tribe’s roster has given its fans some reasons to be concerned, but it also provided some justification for excitement. Let’s take a look at three things we learned from the opening series in Detroit.
1) Uncertainty in the lineup
Sure, the bats broke their silence in the final few frames against the Tigers on Sunday, but the offense is far from providing enough reassurance that it will be able to produce on a more consistent basis moving forward. At the same time, the team is just three games into the season -- and remains very inexperienced -- and took a positive step forward.
Chang’s two-run single marked the Indians’ second hit with runners in scoring position this year (they were 2-for-15 as a team at that point). The production quickly became quite contagious, leading to the Tribe scoring five more runs over the next three frames to finally gain some steam offensively. And no one needed to catch the hitting bug more than Luplow.
Here’s where a lot of the uncertainty can come into play. If you’re looking for someone to trigger an offense, it’s easy to turn to the leadoff hitter. But aside from Jake Bauers, the only two members of the Tribe who appeared in either of the first two games and didn't log a hit were Ben Gamel and Luplow -- the duo that’s been manning the leadoff spot in the order. Indians manager Terry Francona has been adamant about getting Luplow at-bats against left-handers, and Luplow demonstrated why that’s been stressed when he took a ball a Statcast-projected 406 feet off southpaw Daniel Norris in the seventh inning.
But is that a bat you’d rather have deeper in the order to slug lefties? Could he (or Gamel) find a way to be a consistent presence -- like Cesar Hernandez was at the top of the order last season -- to take on the leadoff role? And will guys like Reyes, Josh Naylor and José Ramírez help Eddie Rosario in the middle of the order? Welcome to the uncertainty.
2) Rotation is still strong
A quality start isn't the flashiest of all stats, but it gets the job done ... most of the time. The Indians received a quality start from all three of their starters this series, but they walked away with just one win. However, the strength of the rotation, especially when the trio was roughed up early in each game and found a way to settle in, is a positive sign this early in the season. It’s, again, a matter of waiting for the bats to try to produce more regularly.
Aaron Civale capped off the series with the longest outing by a Tribe starter in the young season, tossing seven innings while allowing three runs on two hits -- two homers -- with three walks and six strikeouts.
“I thought he battled his rear end off,” Francona said. “He was terrific. We needed it, because if we gave up any more, the way it looked early, that game is probably a little different.”
3) Clase will continue to bring the heat
Emmanuel Clase’s velocity gives baseball fans a reason to be excited. He made his Indians debut on Sunday and set the franchise record for the fastest pitch (101.2 mph) thrown in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). The previous fastest was 100.7 mph by Danny Salazar on Aug. 7, 2013, against Detroit. But don’t expect the records to stop there.
Clase's nine 100.0-plus mph pitches on Sunday is more than any Cleveland pitcher has thrown in his career in the pitch-tracking era. And Clase is just four triple-digit pitches away from throwing more 100.0-plus mph pitches than all Indians pitchers had collectively thrown from 2008 up until Sunday’s game.
“It’s cool to see three digits pop up next to the ball,” Civale said with a grin. “That’s 10 mph harder than most of my pitches today.”