Call to the pen
Fansided

Behind the Struggling 2019 Cleveland Indians

By Ben Fadden

CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 25: Manager Terry Francona #77 of the Cleveland Indians is ejected by third base umpire Eric Cooper during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field on May 25, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 25: Manager Terry Francona #77 of the Cleveland Indians is ejected by third base umpire Eric Cooper during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field on May 25, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

The Current Roster’s Struggles

Those three pitchers are still intact, but Kluber is on the Injured List with a broken arm. He got his cast removed a few days ago, which is a good sign for Cleveland Indians fans. He was hit on the arm by Marlins’ Brian Anderson on May 1.

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Trevor Bauer has been forced to lead the rotation and he has been good. He is 4-4 with a 3.99 ERA in 12 starts.

Behind him is Carlos Carrasco (4.60 ERA), Shane Bieber (3.11 ERA), and Jefry Rodriguez (4.08 ERA).

By the numbers, the rotation has been decent, but the problem has been the offense.

Francisco Lindor was on the IL to begin the season, and he has gotten off to a slow start. Lindor is hitting .279 with just 16 RBI’s and an OPS of .815.

Jose Ramirez has been playing the entire year, but he is hitting .197 with just 4 home runs and 15 RBI’s.

Obviously, the offense is not hitting as they are now a game under .500, and are now 10 games back of the Twins, so it may be time for the front office to begin to explore trading pitchers like Trevor Bauer.

If Cleveland ownership is owning up to the fact that they will enter a rebuilding stage after Francisco Lindor departs, then they need to trade their top tier players.

San Diego has been reportedly interested in acquiring Trevor Bauer to lead a young rotation that includes Chris Paddack, and the Indians would easily get an outfielder and a bundle of young prospects back from the best farm system in the league.

Next. MLB WebGems: 10 Greatest Defensive Plays of Week-8. dark

The Cleveland Indians need to notice their problem, and start calling opposing teams to look at their options or else they will endure another long period of time not in contention.

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