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Second half starts with the Tribe up (essentially) 7 games on the rest of the division. Three game series with the Twinkies seems to lineup with the following matchups:
Carrasco v. Santana
Bauer v. Duffey
Tomlin v. Gibson
Hopefully we can take advantage of a "weaker" opponent coming out of the break, though we have not played them well yet (2-4 against them so far).
I guess the biggest questions in the short term are:
1) What to do at catcher, with Yan Gomes sporting a solid .516 OPS. I think they are stuck with him to some extent since he has a long term contract. Maybe down the stretch/playoffs, they end up pinch hitting in his 3rd AB in important spots as needed. To me, a Lucroy acquisition seems unlikely, but you never know I guess.
2) What the Indians do at the deadline. I think it seems obvious they will get one RP at least. Interesting to see if they splurge for like Chapman (unlikely) or settle for more like Jake McGee or Will Smith (more likely) or some righty. OF upgrade seems less likely now with Brantley seemingly working toward a return. I still would like to see them get another bat (outside of Brantley) as I don't want to enter a stretch relying on Ramirez and Chiz to bat in key RBI situations against good pitching.
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