Mike Clevinger’s Hot July Enhances the Tribe’s Playoff Hopes

Clevinger began the year with two great starts where he allowed 0 earned runs in 12 innings. Then things took a turn for the worse when he hit the shelf until late June with a back injury. He made one start with another brief trip to the IL soon after, but since returning a second time, he’s been unstoppable and has mirrored the pitcher we saw in 2018 that recorded 207 strikeouts in 200 innings with a 3.02 ERA and 13-8 record.

The month of July heated up for Clevinger, not just because of the actual weather itself, but because “Mikey Clevs,” which he’s been known to be called (not really), recorded 4 wins with zero losses and allowed just 6 earned runs in 31 innings thrown.

Fast-forward to today and Clevinger is now 6-2 on the year with a 3.07 ERA and has 80 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. The Indians have picked up the pace since late June and now find themselves in second place in the AL Central trailing the Twinkies by just 3 games. If we pick a random date (June 21st when they were 39-35 coming into that day), we see they beat the Tigers 7-6. If we include this game and fast-forward to this very day, the Tribe is 27-10 in that stretch of games. Just for comparison, the Twins are 21-16 in that same stretch.

The Tribe is closing in on the division lead and the resurgence of Mike Clevinger is a major part of that. This team has been without Corey Kluber for the majority of the year. Carlos Carrasco has also had his own lengthy IL stint with major health problems attached (who knows if we’ll ever see him again this year). Trevor Bauer has just been traded away. After not being seen since 2017 and making one start this year, Danny Salazar is now back on the shelf.

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This team, at one point, had the best rotation in baseball but has had to scratch and claw their way to where they are now in 2019. They should be getting Corey Kluber back soon, which is great news for them. But there’s no question a healthy Mike Clevinger is what this team needs the most out of their pitching staff.

This Indians team is dangerous once again. They weren’t supposed to be this good. Coming into this season, it looked as though it would be the Francisco Lindor/Jose Ramirez show with not much else behind them in the lineup, and once Lindo (not a typo) hit the shelf to start the year and Ramirez began the season in a major lull, the Indians looked to be in serious trouble.

Now, they’re a favorite to land (at the very least) a Wild Card spot. Terry Francona knows how to win ball games; plain and simple. Carlos Santana has come on and had a huge year. Oscar Mercado has emerged as one of the most exciting young players in baseball. Shane Bieber has exploded onto the scene.

When we throw in the future ace of this team, Mike Clevinger, and a two-time CY Young winner in Corey Kluber (both) at full-strength, the Indians are once again contenders to win it all.