Why the Indians on Friday at -120...The Indians are coming into Friday's matchup against the Orioles after a much needed off-day after their two game series in Puerto Rico where they went 1-1. Tito and the boys are 2-0 on the season after an off-day and going back to 2017, they were 30-17 following an off-day. This is an Indians squad playing quality baseball right now after posting a 5-2 record over their last 7 games where they averaged 4.1 RPG with a .264 BA/.307 OBP. Trevor Bauer will take the ball for the tribe who is starting his season on the right foot where he has posted a 2.25 era over 20 innings where he allowed 1 HR on 7 BBs and 21 Ks. Bauer's only road start of 2018 came in his season debut against the above average offense of the Mariners where he allowed 2 runs through 5 innings on 7 Ks. When looking deeper into Bauer's saber number up to this point, there is strong reason to back him in this game. In Bauer's last start against the Tigers, he posted a GB% of 46%, which is his highest of the season. When we match that GB% to his BABIP against in that start of .318, the numbers show that he should get GBs in this start that equal more outs, which will drastically improve his BABIP against in this start which will ultimately lead to a quality start against this below average lineup of the Orioles. This is an Orioles team playing terrible baseball right now after posting a 1-6 record in their last 7 games where they have averaged 3.9 RPG with a .251 BA/.312 OBP. The Orioles will be sending Dylan Bundy to the bump who is coming off quality starts to start the season but his saber numbers tell a different story. Bundy has seen his K/BB ratio gradually drop over his last four starts as well as his BABIP against gradually rise over his four starts to a .368 in his last start against the Red Sox. In that start against the Red Sox, Bundy posted a season low GB% of 26%. When looking at the home/road splits for Bundy, we will look at 2017 due to the small sample size of 2018. According to the numbers, there is not a home field advantage at home for Bundy who posted a 4.20 home era in 2017 where he saw his SO9 drop from 8.8 on the road to 7.5 at home. Bundy faced this Indians team just once in 2017 coming at home where he allowed 6 runs through 4 innings on 6 hits, 1 HR, 3 BBs and 2 Ks. Taking a look at the bullpens, going to fade the Orioles pen who comes into tonight with a 4.50 home era through 20 innings where they have allowed 10 BBs on 17 Ks compared to the Indians road bullpen era of 2.94 through 30 innings where they have allowed 9 BBs on 27 Ks and have the extra day of rest due to yesterdays off-day.
Play on the Indians at -120
Play on the Indians at -120
