Jays at Cleveland, May 28-30

The Cleveland Baseball Team sports an impressive 27-21 record, and it's something of a mystery how this has happened. They've scored 191 runs and allowed 187. They've split their one-run games. Their offense is not very offensive - Jose Ramirez is wonderful and DH Franmil Reyes has matched him, but Reyes strained his oblique on Saturday and is expected to be out for at least a month. Two starting pitchers have been outstanding - Shane Bieber, which figured, and Aaron Civale, which didn't. The Jays will miss Bieber, but Civale gets the Sunday afternoon start. The front half of their bullpen - Clase, Karinchak, Quantrill, and Shaw - have been superb. They've also been worked pretty hard.

Matchups? Thought you'd never ask...

Fri 28 May - Ryu (4-2, 2.53) vs Morgan (---, -.--)  (This would be Eli Morgan, making his MLB debut. Weather permitting.)

Sat 29 May - Stripling (0-3, 5.63) vs Hentges (1-1, 6.20)

Sun 30 May - Matz (6-2, 4.28) vs Civale (7-1, 3.04)

A rainout tonight, presumably followed by a doubleheader later this weekend, is one of those things that would work out nicely for both teams. It seems to me that both teams have what amount to Stars and Scrubs types of bullpens - something like four established major league pitchers, fleshed out by a Waiver Wire Brigade. In which case, a couple of seven inning games means you need much less from the more dubious elements of the pen.