Last week began with optimism that the 2016 season would be different for the Cleveland Indians. After all, the Tribe had gone to Detroit and swept their arch nemesis in convincing fashion. It seemed almost like they had finally ousted one of their demons.

With series against the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies on the agenda, the Indians appeared primed to make some noise in the win column and get off to a nice start in April, especially with a healthy Michael Brantley rejoining the team.

However, that clearly wasn’t the case as the Tribe subsequently lost two of three in Minnesota and then got swept in Philly. Each of the six games was decided by one run with the Indians falling short on five of them. The Tribe finished the month at 10-11, a record that isn’t terrible, but seems disappointing especially how it ended with the team currently in fourth place in the American League Central Division and six games behind the hot Chicago White Sox.

During the off-season, much of the discussion moving forward was “how would the Tribe offense score enough to make the most of its lauded pitching staff?” Would they trade some pitching for some hitting? No, turned out to be the answer, but there was hope that the additions of Rajai Davis, Juan Uribe, Mike Napoli and Marlon Byrd would be sufficient.

Well, so far the best laid plans haven’t worked out as well as we thought they might. The offense is still having a hard time consistently scoring enough runs to win the game.

When the Indians score just four runs or more, they are 8-2. The record drops considerably to 2-10 when scoring three runs or fewer. So, to make a really obvious and important point is that when the Tribe has even an average offensive output, they have a really good chance to win.

Plaguing the Indians offense has been the strikeout. Napoli has fanned 33 times in 78 ABs, Jason Kipnis, 29 in 88 ABs, and three players have struck out 19 times (Francisco Lindor – 85 ABs, Davis – 65 ABs and Yan Gomes – 69 ABs) with Marlon Byrd striking out 18 times in 54 ABs.

Recent injuries to Carlos Carrasco and Roberto Perez aren’t going to help, but there’s a chance to forget the bad week if the Indians can get their bats to come alive and muster a good offensive showing during their upcoming three-games home series with Detroit (14-10) on May 3-5 and Kansas City (13-11) on May 6-8 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Josh Tomlin (3-0, 3.18 ERA) looks to end the Tribe’s three-game losing streak starting at 6:10 p.m. May 3. The Tigers have won six of their last seven games after getting swept at home by Cleveland and they will send Justin Verlander (2-2, 5.46 ERA) to the mound for this contest. 

Verlander pitched 6.1 innings against Oakland on April 27 to pick up the win after giving up five hits and three runs along with two walks while striking out six. Meanwhile, Tomlin gutted through 5.1 innings on April 27 against Minnesota to earn the victory after he gave up six hits and four runs, while walking just one and striking out one.

Corey Kluber (1-3, 4.24 ERA) will take the mound at 6:10 p.m. May 4 and the Tigers will counter with Anibal Sanchez (3-2, 6.08 ERA). Kluber pitched well in his last appearance on April 29 against the Phillies, but he did not earn a decision despite pitching seven innings while giving up just two runs and  five hits while giving up no walks and striking out six.

Sanchez earned a win after he pitched 5.2 innings on April 28 against Oakland and gave up three hits and two runs. Surprisingly, he walked seven in the game, but struck out nine.

Trevor Bauer (1-0, 5.28 ERA) will make his second start of the year at 6:10 p.m. on May 5. The Tigers have yet to announce a starter for the contest. Bauer will look to build on his last appearance from April 30 against Philadelphia when he lasted just four innings and gave up five hits and three runs, while walking two and striking out four. Let’s face it, the Indians need Bauer to pitch better to help offset the loss of Carrasco due to a hamstring injury.

Neither Cleveland nor Kansas City have announced starting pitchers for the weekend series. The Royals haven’t been playing well recently and have dropped five of their last six games including a stretch of losing five straight before picking up a 4-1 victory against Seattle. Kansas City will play three games at home against Washington before heading to Cleveland.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not

Danny Salazar has pitched well so far in the 2016 campaign. Despite a 2-2 record in five starts, Salazar has compiled a 2.40 ERA and hitters are batting just .139 against him. He’s also struck out 34 in just 30 innings. A little troublesome though is that he has walked 15 hitters.

Tomlin also deserves credit, because he’s done everything the Indians have asked of him. After starting as the No. 5 starter, he’s now moved up to No. 4 with the injury to Carrasco. Tomlin has pitched 17 innings in his three starts and has yet to lose a decision and has walked only two batters. He’s known for giving up home runs, but he hasn’t given up many hits otherwise as evidenced by a 0.94 WHIP.

Carlos Santana also gets a mention here as he’s hitting .321 (9 for 28) in his last seven games with a home run and three RBI and just three Ks. During that span his OBP is .387 and his slugging is .536 to combine for a .923 OPS. He’s also served well in the lead-off spot in the lineup when inserted there.

Mike Napoli hasn’t been good in his last seven games as he’s hit just 4-for-31 (.129 average) and has struck out 18 times. He also had just one home run and two RBI during that stretch. Not good marks for a middle of the order hitter.

Yan Gomes has also struggled in his last seven games managing just a 4-for-28 (.143 average) stretch, although I’ll give him a little credit because he did hit two home runs and drove in six. With Perez moving to the 15-day DL, Gomes isn’t going to be get many days off now as catcher Adam Moore was called up from Columbus to serve as the backup.