Danny Salazar wants to prove that his Cactus League messy numbers do not signify what’s to come from him this season. Salazar, who had a 4.85 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in the said mock season, is set to make his first start of the season later tonight against the Rangers.
Salazar went 11-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 25 starts for the Indians last season but barely pitched in the postseason because of injuries. Hopefully for the Indians, Salazar has fully recovered, as he looks to win his season debut. Salazar pitched just once against the Rangers last season, allowing two earned runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts in 5.1 innings of a 2-1 loss on Aug. 28.
Edwin Encarnacion will try to give Salazar some run cushion. The heavy hitter brought over to the team in the offseason, is a career .571 hitter (5-for-14 with a homer) against Texas starter Cole Hamels.
Cole Hamels takes the mound tonight for the Texas in the third and last game of the series against the Indians.
Hamels had an ugly end to his 2016 season, when he allowed six earned runs on seven hits in just 3.1 innings during a 10-1 loss to Toronto in Game 1 of the ALDS, but with that in the past, the lefty will look to begin a new season on a good note. Hamels faces an Indians club which he met twice last season, getting a 1-0 record and a 1.80 ERA in two starts. Hamels pitched eight scoreless innings and surrendered just two hits in a 9-0 home win against the Indians back on Aug. 25.
Hamels surely likes to see the same kind of run support behind him and the pair of Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus could give him just that. Beltre is 6-for-8 lifetime against Salazar, while Andrus is 3-for-8 in the same career head-to-head.
