Tyler Chatwood To Make Major League Debut As Angels Face Indians

Tyler Chatwood is set to make his big league debut Monday as the Halos face off against the red hot Cleveland Indians Monday. The Indians come to the big A riding a 7 game winning streak and sporting a 7-2 overall record led largely by an offense that has amassed 52 runs (good for 3rd in the AL) across the teams first 9 games. Needless to say Chatwood and the Halos will have their work cut out for them to cool off the surprising Indians.

Chatwood has been described to me by those who have seen him pitch as having the ceiling of a middle class mans Roy Oswalt with a potentially devastating curve ball that once he gains command of he could use as a primary pitch from time to time. Chatwood’s fastball can top out at 95 – 96 MPH , and he has an emerging change up that is also in the mix. The key for the youngster will be keeping his velocity consistent through the middle innings and throwing strikes.Tyler has shown the propensity to walk dudes sporting a BB/9 of 8.5 , 5.1 and then 3.7 in his last three full seasons. It’s always exciting to see a guy get his first start in the bigs so tonight should be fun to watch.

Lets take a look at the series at a glance.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Mitch Talbot vs. Tyler Chatwood
Game 2: Fausto Carmona vs. Dan Haren
Game 3: Carlos Carrasco vs. Ervin Santana

Indian To Watch – Asdrubal Cabrera has gotten off to a great start for the Tribe hitting .316/.341/.605. The Indians shortstop is coming off a huge series in Seattle that saw him go 6-15 with 2 home runs.
Holy Halo – Vernon Wells. There is really no statistical evidence to support this pick . Wells has struggled in his career vs. Cleveland hitting just .235/.291/.376 in 66 career games but.. Wells is long overdue to start hitting. Maybe the pressure of the home opening series coinciding with Vernon’s ex team also being in town was just too much to handle? I’m expecting Wells to settle in and start producing this series ( assuming he’s in the lineup).