The excellent website, Royals Treatment, provides I-70 Baseball with series previews this season for the Kansas City Royals games. With the Royals on a bit of a slide, they head into Cleveland to face off against the Indians in a three game set.

After trading wins & losses over a 4-game span last week, the Royals get another chance to take aim at the upstart, division-leading Cleveland Indians in a 3-game series at Jacob’s Field this week:

Tues. Apr. 26. 6:05 pm CT – Luke Hochevar (2-2, 5.12) v. Justin Masterson (4-0, 1.71)

Wed. Apr. 27. 6:05 pm CT - Jeff Francis (0-2, 4.06) v. Josh Tomlin (3-0, 2.33)

Thurs. Apr. 28. 6:05 pm CT – Kyle Davies (1-2, 6.23) v. Fausto Carmona (1-3, 5.76)

A hotly contested first series should provide for an equally entertaining second set between these two clubs.

We turn, once again, to our friends at Royals Treatment to breakdown the upcoming series between the Royals and the Indians in Kansas City. You read it correctly, this is an early season battle for the top spot in the American League Central.

Who saw this coming? When the Royals host the Cleveland Indians in this week’s 4-game battle, it will be contested with the A.L. Central division lead on the line! Both teams, written off by analysts and fans before the season had even began, have surged out of the gate and carry forth with them plenty of momentum into what should make for a very entertaining clash:

Mon. Apr. 18. 7:10 pm CT – Carlos Carrasco (1-1, 5.03) v. Kyle Davies (1-1, 9.00)

Tues. Apr. 19. 7:10 pm CT – Jeanmar Gomez (0-0, -.–) v. Bruce Chen (2-0, 2.37)

Wed. Apr. 20. 7:10 pm CT – Justin Masterson (3-0, 1.33) v. Luke Hochevar (2-1, 4.21)

Thurs. Apr. 21. 7:10 pm CT – Josh Tomlin (3-0, 2.75) v. Sean O’Sullivan (1-1, 5.00)

You can read Connor’s in depth analysis of the series by clicking here.

The Royals and Indians battled it out all year in 2010 to see who could grab the cellar in the AL Central; the Royals pulled away in the end, finishing two games behind Cleveland. Neither team has much reason to hope for significant improvement in 2011. The Royals are probably worse than they were a year ago, while the Indians could improve with better health. It is safe to say the rest of the AL Central is not too scared of either team.

Keep in mind I do not follow the Indians closely, and all of the below analysis is only from a quick crash course on the current state of the Indians. Tip of the hat to Indians blog Let’s Go Tribe and Gary Schatz’s appearance on this week’s i70baseball radio show for their info; See today’s guest post from Gary for a more informed look at the 2011 Indians. The 2010 WAR numbers found in the charts below are from Fangraphs.com, and the 2011 projected ERA and wOBA are by Bill James as found on Fangraphs.com.

Here is how the teams stack up at each position heading into 2011:

Rotation:

Josh Tomlin

The Royals rotation does not compare well against any team right now. When your opening day starter figures to be Luke Hochevar, you know things are not good. The Royals are just hoping this ragged collection will not embarrass themselves too badly before all the young arms in the minors start breaking through. The Indians rotation is not especially fearsome on paper either, though Carmona and Masterson are a solid pair and sophomore-to-be Tomlin shows promise.

Advantage: Cleveland

Catcher:

Carlos Santana

With Jason Kendall on the DL for the beginning of 2011, GM Dayton Moore is so far sticking with the young pair of Pena and May to hold down catching duties until Kendall’s return. Pena has shown a decent bat when given regular playing time. Lucas May remains an unknown at the big league level. The Indians have an exciting backstop in young Carlos Santana who made his MLB debut in 2010 with an .868 OPS in 46 games before his year was cut short by injury. He is expected to be ready for spring training, and could be a major bright spot for Cleveland in 2011.

Advantage: Cleveland

First Base:

First base projects to be a two-headed monster for KC in 2011, with Ka’aihue and Butler sharing time there and at DH unless one displays a clear defensive superiority at the initial sack. Ka’aihue is thought to have a slight defensive edge. Either way, first base should be a strong suit for KC, with Butler now a proven beast with the bat and Ka’aihue showing tremendous potential at the AAA level. Ka’aihue struggled at first during his short time in the majors at the end of last season, but hopes are high for a breakout in 2011. Matt LaPorta came to Cleveland in the CC Sabbathia deal, and has so far been a disappointment. He only has 162 major league games under his belt, so still has time to figure things out, but Indians fans have real reason for concern.

Advantage: Kansas City

Shortstop:

These two shortstops with names that are fun to say are mirror images of each other: Cabrera has a good bat with suspect defense, and Escobar draws raves for his glove but possesses a weak bat. Add it up, and you get…

Advantage: wash

Third Base:

Third is murky for both clubs. Betemit came out of nowhere to have a big season at the plate for KC last year, but his defense at third was not pretty. A repeat of his season offensively may be a long shot. Aviles may get the opportunity to start at third, and KC hopes his hot end to 2010 was the real Aviles after fully recovering from Tommy John surgery. Whoever starts out at third will just be keeping the hot corner warm for Mike Moustakas. Things are even more muddled in Cleveland, where Nix and Valbuena are listed on the Indians official depth chart, neither of whom can be too exciting for Indians fans. Nix may serve as a stop-gap until prospect Lonnie Chisenhall is deemed ready.

Advantage: Kansas City

Second Base:

Chris Getz had a year to forget in 2010, and Mike Aviles ended up with the bulk of playing time at the keystone sack for KC. Getz will probably get another shot to hold down second in 2011 and will need to play out-of-this-world defense to offset his feeble bat. Second and third seem to have a lot of moving parts right now in Cleveland with no clear indication how the positions will shake out. The official Indians depth chart lists Donald and Valbuena; Nix may be part of the mix as well. None of the options are inspiring.

Advantage: wash

Left Field:

Alex Gordon will get another chance to break out, but this time it will be in left field instead of third base. Gordon looked surprisingly comfortable in the outfield after making the switch last season, and there is still a slight glimmer of hope he can be a productive hitter at the big league level. His .244 career average is ugly, but he’s been close to an average hitter when judged by more telling numbers (career 95 OPS+). In Cleveland, the young, speedy Michael Brantley is still mostly an unknown after playing just 100 MLB games. He has shown the ability to get on base at a good clip and steal a lot of bases in the minors. Left field is another spot with a bunch of question marks for both clubs, leading to another toss-up.

Advantage: wash

Center Field:

Sizemore was an elite player from 2005—08, dropped off slightly in 2009 and had his 2010 shortened to just 33 games due to injury. He’s only 28, so if he can get and stay healthy, may have some monster years left in him. The Royals find themselves with a bit of a glut in center after signing Cabrera and then trading for Cain in the Zack Greinke deal. Cain seems a better bet on paper, but the Royals have floated indications that Cabrera may be the starter initially.

Advantage: Cleveland

Right Field:

This may be the most lopsided position between the two clubs. Choo is in rarified air with the best AL right fielders, while Francoeur has been downright dreadful for three straight years.

Advantage: Cleveland

DH:

Hafner has been a beast with the bat for a long time, but will be 34 next season. Butler will be just 25 next year, and already has four years under his belt. They may put up similar numbers next year, but I give the edge to Billy based on age alone. However, Ka’aihue will probably end up sharing a lot of time at DH, and may still have things to figure out at the big league level.

Advantage: wash

Bullpen:

Wow, those KC projections for guys not named Soria are pretty rough; I doubt the bullpen ERAs will be quite that bad. Both teams have a solid option for closer, with Joakim Soria clearly being the standout between the two ’pens. Chris Perez emerged as the Indians closer last year and posted a 1.71 ERA (outdoing his 3.54 FIP by a seemingly unsustainable margin). I will not pretend to know anything about the rest of the arms in the Cleveland ‘pen; judging by numbers alone, they were mediocre to bad last year and may improve slightly in 2011. Overall, the Cleveland ‘pen may be deeper, but the Mexicutioner alone leads me to prefer KC’s relievers by a hair.

Advantage: Kansas City

Overall:

Both teams feature a lot of mediocre to marginal players with just a couple of proven stars trickled in. Neither club seems clearly superior when it comes to position players. I have to think the Indians will be the superior team overall thanks to there being more talent present in their starting rotation. The cross-your-fingers and pray for rain rotation in KC might make it tough for the Royals to stay under 100 losses this year. The Indians probably won’t be great either, but they look like a better bet than KC.

Advantage: Cleveland

During this week, guest writers from around the Internet will drop by to break down the 2011 season and how it looks for the teams in the American League Central. Today’s post comes from Gary Schatz as he takes a look at the Cleveland Indians.

It is no secret that the Indians will rely on youth. The free agent market is simply not for them

The mid-90′s Indians, the group that built and sold out “the Jake” as in Jacobs Field was a collection of home grown talent. General Manager, John Hart, signed the youthful core players, Joey (Albert) Bell, Jim Thome and Carlos Baerga etc above market rate before they could reach arbitration.

The 2011 Indians will be youthful but obtained by trading veterans.

The Indians decided then that they couldn’t hang with the Yankees and Red Sox in the free agent sweepstakes. They were right. They lost the season opener and at 0-1 it was the high water mark in a 93-loss season.

Outfielder Austin Kearns and righthanded starting pitcher, Jake Westbrook were peddled to contending teams for more prospects at the end of last season..

Youthful Pitching

The clubs top pitcher, Fausto Carmona, rebounded from a tough 2009 to put together a good season.

He won 13 games. It was the most since his 19-win season in 2007. He slipped to 5-12 in 2009.

The club is counting on him to have another good season in order to compete.

Avoiding the free agent gamble and budget drain, has populated the starting rotation with some young talent. Justin Masterson, who came from the Red Sox for Victor Martinez. The second round pick in the 2006 draft was a prized prospect in the Red Sox organization but signing top free agent pitching left little room for him in Boston. He didn’t win his first game until June 4 then shutout the Boston Red Sox five days later. His ERA was 5.31 in the first half of the season but a respectable 3.84 after the All- Star break.

Carlos Carrasco was a principal in the trade with Philadelphia for Cliff Lee. He was called up in September. He finished in the majors with a 2-2 record and a 3.83 ERA.

Mitch Talbot won 10 games. He is the fourth member of the starting rotation. All four are under 28 years of age. The group struggled early but seemed to improve in the second half of the year under pitching coach, Tim Belcher. David Huff, a lefty, picked by the Indians in the first round of the 2006 draft, leads a group of candidates for the final spot in the rotation. Huff won 11 games in his rookie season a year ago but won just two of his 13 decisions.

Anthony Reyes, Josh Tomlin and Jeanmar Gomez will also be considered. Gomez will be 23 when the season starts. When he arrived in Cleveland in mid-July, he had already logged 116 innings at Columbus. His first five starts were impressive with a 1.84 ERA. Fatigue kicked in and his last six outings inflated his ERA to 4.68.

The bullpen is led by closer, Chris Perez, who took over the role when Kerry Wood was shipped to the Yankees. Jensen Lewis, Joe Smith, Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez are the top candidates for jobs out of the bullpen. Leaving Aaron Laffey, Frank Herrmann, Justin Germano, Vinnie Pestano, Josh Judy and newly acquired Joe Martinez and Doug Mathis. Martinez completed the Indians 40-man roster. Mathis, who has experience as a starter also, was signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. He pitched for the Texas Rangers last season.

Catchers

Indians manager, Manny Acta , was eager to see what top catching prospect, Carlos Santana. A knee injury cut short Santana’s rookie season. He played just 40 games. The switch hitter was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Casey Blake. Santana will be 25 shortly after opening day. He has shown some power, hitting 21 home runs and driving in 117 runs in 2008 when he played at the Double A level before a promotion to Columbus. Light hitting Lou Marson will spell Santana. He was near the top of the American League in the percentage of base stealers caught.

Infield

The Tribe infield will be full of young Braves. Matt LaPorta obtained from Milwaukee for C.C. Sabbathia will be at firstbase. Jason Donald acquired from Philadelphia in the Cliff Lee trade will be at secondbase. Asdrubal Cabrera, a Seattle Mariner signing obtained for Eduardo Perez will be at shortstop and Jayson Nix, a waiver claim from the Chicago White Sox, went to the Puerto Rican Winter League to make the transition from second to thirdbase. Luis Valbuena is expected to provide bench strength at the middle infield. Adam Everitt was signed to a minor league deal to add depth and some experience.

Slugging designated hitter, Travis Hafner, will backup LaPorta at firstbase. Hafner missed time with shoulder problems last season

Cabrera is the most experienced but has yet to play three full seasons, arriving in June 2007. Nix and Valbuena broke in during the 2008 season. LaPorta debuted in 2009 but started last season in Columbus.

Donald showed up last season. LaPorta struggled last year as expected but Acta hopes the experience will payoff for the highly regarded young slugger.

Jason Kipnich, a 23-year old lefhanded hitter out of Arizona State, could challenge at secondbase. In two minor league stops last season hit .307 with 16 home runs and 74 RBI.. Picked one round later in the 2009 draft after Sun Devil teammate, Mike Leake, Kipnich advanced to Double A, Akron. The top pick in 2008, Lonnie Chisenhall has an outside chance to make the roster as a thirdbaseman. He hit 17 home runs at Akron last season.

Outfield

The Cleveland outfield collectively is the veteran presence on the team. Shin-Soo Choo had a solid season with a .300 average, 22 home runs and 90 RBI. All-Star centerfielder, Grady Sizemore, was ineffective in just 33 games in 2010. He is rehabbing after surgery on his left knee in June. He was also plagued by a deep bone bruise. Michael Brantley took over for Sizemore. The 23-year old was a top prospect in Milwaukee, that came to Cleveland with LaPorta for Sabbathia. His inexperience showed but he is expected to produce with experience. Switch hitter Trevor Crowe also was learning on the job in Cleveland last season. He had surgery to remove clean out his right elbow in October but will be ready by the time the team reports to Goodyear. Choo, Sizemore and Brantley all hit from the leftside. Austin Kearns resigned. Kearns, who was Cincinnati’s top choice in 1998, one round ahead of Adam Dunn, is the lone righthanded bat. He hit .272 in 84 games for Cleveland and played well enough that the Yankees “rented” him for the stretch drive toward the post season.

Manny Acta managed the veteran who is all of 31 years old and could yet reach the potential that has eluded him since he broke in with the Reds in 2002. Kearns career barely got off the ground when a debilitating hand injury put a drag on his rise to stardom.

Manager

Manny Acta took over for Eric Wedge last season. Like his first job with the Washington Nationals, Acta was not expected to win much. His 2007 Nationals team that included Kearns, overachieved if a team that lost 89 games can claim achievement.

The team struggled through injuries to Sizemore, the best player they had, youthful mistakes and the sale of its veterans during the second half of the season.

Cleveland got off to a dismal start but after, Kearns, Westbrook and Russel Branyan departed the kids showed signs of improvement. Acta and first year general manager, Chris Antonetti, are hoping the team develops rapidly. They don’t expect the Indians to win the Central as its cross-state rival, Cincinnati did last year. They are looking for incremental improvement and have an eye on 2012 or 2013.

Gary covers the Cleveland Indians for the newest site in the Ivie League Production family, Battle Of Ohio Baseball.

Prologue:

Good things come in threes or so goes an old adage. Well, in the series against the A’s the Royals magic number was three. If they scored more than three runs, they were good enough to beat the A’s who scored 3 runs in each of the games this week. This weekend will be the first of two consecutive weekend series versus the Indians. This weekend is at home and next weekend will be the Royals last away games of the season. Evaluations of the team’s current talent and/or potential future talent will still be essential. However, trying to win ball games will not be ignored.

Game 1: Carlos Carrasco (0-0) vs. Kyle Davies (8-9)

Carrasco was among the late season call-ups for the Indians but does have previous experience versus the Royals. He has pitched 6 innings and is 0-1 in his short professional career. Since the beginning of September he has pitched well. He doesn’t have a win yet but his ERA of 2.18 would indicate that he probably should have. Among his appearances this month was a 7.1 innings start, where he allowed zero runs against the division leading Twins.

The Royals could jokingly call Kyle Davies Mr. September. In his third September, he has worked himself up to a 9-1 record with an ERA of 1.78. On the other hand, he has struggled against Cleveland. He is 3-4 with an ERA of 5.40. His last start against the Indians resulted in a no decision. He went 7.1 innings, gave up three earned runs on seven hits.

Game 2: Justin Masterson (6-12) vs. Sean O’ Sullivan (1-5)

After being sent to the bullpen for the remainder of the season just a short while ago, Masterson is back in the rotation due to an injury of teammate Mitch Talbot. He is 1-2 lifetime against the Royals with an ERA of 5.19. His last appearance against the boys in blue was a five inning no decision back on May 19th. He gave up 2 earned runs on five hits and four walks.

Sean O’Sullivan has yet to prove to the Royals that he was worth the trade. He is running out of time to prove it too. He still doesn’t have a win as a Royal since he was traded back in July. His ERA since coming to Kansas City has been an atrocious 7.40. This will be his first career start against the Indians. Maybe, just maybe, if he wins his remaining starts he will be invited back next spring.

Game 3: Josh Tomlin (4-3) vs. Luke Hochevar (5-5)

Josh Tomlin has been consistent, if not the most consistent Indians pitcher as of late. He has gone at least five innings in every start since he was called up and has a winning record. In his lone start versus the Royals he was able to notch a victory despite having a gaudy ERA of 5.40.

Luke Hochevar is coming around the way the Royals expected. He probably will be kept on a low pitch count again on Sunday, just to make sure he doesn’t reinjure himself. He will have to do better than he has in the past against Cleveland though. He is 2-4 lifetime versus the Tribe with an ERA of 4.98. Shin Choo-Soo has had Hochevar’s number in nearly every single game they’ve played. Choo-Soo has a lifetime average of .556 with two home runs and four RBIs.

Offense:

The Royals offense clicked during the last two games of the Oakland Series. The Royals will need to continue to do that against a pitching staff that is worse off than Oakland’s. Cleveland’s offense has struggled in September. They have averaged just above 2.5 runs per game since September 1st.

Defense:

Both of these teams’ defensive stats are among the bottom of the American League. If either defense makes an error during any part of the series, the questionable pitching staff on both sides will begin to unravel. Play mistake free defense, and you give your team a chance to win.

Pitching:

Like the defense, both teams’ pitching staff have operated on a roller coaster of highs and lows all season. Some have been good, such as Greinke’s complete game efforts or Soria’s saves. However, there’s been too much poor execution on both teams that now they are left to battle to see who is going to end up in the cellar this year.

X-factor:

Both teams have the desire not to finish in the cellar of the Central division. Cleveland has to travel after playing a late game on Thursday night. Between this series and the series next weekend will determine a lot for each franchise. These seven games will probably determine their placement in next year’s draft as well as their place in the Central division. These games will also help evaluate the talent level going into next season. If you want to be a contender, you have to be able to beat your own divisional opponents consistently.