With recent injuries decimating the Cleveland Indians rotation, it’s being reported that the club could go with a three-man rotation.
On Monday Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted that the Cleveland Indians are “discussing a three-man rotation for the postseason.”
Sources: Cleveland discussing three-man postseason rotation with Kluber and Bauer on short rest, Tomlin/Clevinger piggyback or alternating.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 19, 2016
Recent injuries to key starters have forced the Indians to entertain this idea. Danny Salazar was recently diagnosed with a “mild flexor strain” which will keep him out for the rest of the regular season. However, as Jordan Bastian notes, the Indians are “hopeful that he could be available as a reliever as soon as the ALDS.”
Salazar isn’t the only injury concern for the Indians. Carlos Carrasco suffered a broken pitching hand during his most recent start on Saturday. These injuries will leave Cleveland without two of their three best starting pitchers from this season. Only Corey Kluber (152 ERA+) has performed at a higher level among Indians starters in 2016.
The injuries have come at the worst time for Cleveland as they are seeking their first World Series championship since 1948. They currently have a 7 game lead in the AL Central, and Baseball Prospectus lists their odds of winning the division at 99.5%. The strength of Cleveland’s starting pitching has been a major contributor to their success. As of today, Indians starters have the seventh best ERA in baseball at 4.08.
If Indians fans are looking for reasons to be optimistic, the team still has Corey Kluber. In 30 starts he has a 3.12 ERA, and he’s striking out 9.5 batters per nine. Since the beginning of August Kluber has been even better. In those nine starts Kluber has a 2.77 ERA, and the Indians have an 8-1 record.
Things aren’t as certain in regard to Bauer and Clevinger or Tomlin. Bauer, somewhat surprisingly, began the season in the bullpen. By the end of April he made his way back into the starting rotation. In 26 starts Bauer has a 4.20 ERA, and he’s struggled as of late. Bauer has given up 6 ER in each of his previous two starts, and hasn’t given up fewer than 3 ER since August 29.
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Josh Tomlin has been right around a league average starter this season. His greatest asset is his control, and he currently leads qualified starters with 1.13 BB/9. Tomlin has looked particularly sharp in the month of September. In his past three starts (12.2 innings) he’s only allowed 2 ER.
Mike Clevinger has split time between the majors and Triple-A this season. Since the beginning of August he’s been able to stick on the major league roster. The Indians have used him as a starter and in relief, but he hasn’t pitched more than four innings in a major league game since August 13. That concern is minimized if Tomlin and Clevinger do indeed “piggyback” (both work a shorter amount of innings in the same game).
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Anything can happen in October, but these injuries have definitely put the Indians at a disadvantage. Recently some have written off the Indians championship aspirations given these obstacles. It will be interesting to see how they ultimately deal with these issues, and if the Indians can bring Cleveland their first World Series title in over sixty years.