Indians: Bullpen arms need to step up during Andrew Miller’s absence

Left-hander Andrew Miller has arguably been the most dominant reliever in the game for the past two seasons. But after injuring his knee this past week, the 32-year-old will miss a significant amount of time.

Andrew Miller was practically unstoppable last October, mowing down hitters one after another with his wipeout curve and sidewinding release. The reliever played a critical role during the Cleveland Indians’ World Series run in 2016, and he’s been a key player thus far in 2017.

But Cleveland will have to rely on the rest of its bullpen to get to the postseason.

Miller was diagnosed with a knee injury on Wednesday that could keep him out until October. He currently boasts a 1.67 ERA with 21 holds and 78 strikeouts, third-most for relievers with more than 40 innings pitched.

The southpaw has been essentially one of the best relievers in the league since 2014. In every season since then, he hasn’t posted an ERA worse than 2.04 and a WHIP higher than 0.90. He’s been even better in the postseason, yielding just three runs in 27 2/3 career innings.

Indians manager Terry Francona hasn’t had to deal with this issue since Miller joined his club last season. The skipper moved the usual setup man to closer for a short period of time to limit his innings, but this is different.

Nevertheless, the bullpen isn’t “Miller or bust” – there are multiple other reliable guys, even if that didn’t seem like the case in the playoffs last year.

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Cleveland sports the best relief corps on paper, ranking first in ERA at 2.90. Four of the six relievers on the team with more than 35 innings are striking out more than 10 hitters per nine innings.

The club’s front office even bolstered its bullpen unit at the trade deadline by acquiring right-hander Joe Smith from the Toronto Blue Jays. He’s been primarily a setup guy for the team up north, garnering 13 holds in 39 appearances.

Cleveland’s biggest worry pitching-wise could be regarding their closer, Cody Allen. After piecing together arguably his best year last season, he’s had an inconsistent 2017 campaign.

He was effective throughout April, allowing just one run in 10 innings. But he struggled more in May and June, raising his ERA two runs across the two months.

Allen’s most recent appearance ended in a walk-off three-run shot by Red Sox catcher Christian Vasquez. His job won’t be in jeopardy, but he needs to be a shutdown guy now more than ever.

The Indians’ bullpen shouldn’t struggle mightily with the loss of Miller, but Francona will need to find a go-to setup man to replace him. No one on their staff has the versatility of Miller – the ability to pitch up to three innings effectively – but they can make do with what they have.

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With a top-10 offense and an improving starting rotation, the bullpen may not need to be as dominant as it usually is. But if Cleveland is to hold off the Kansas City Royals and win the American League Central, the bullpen will need to step up.