This would have been unbelievable to fathom about six weeks ago, but somehow, the Cleveland Indians still have a shot, albeit slim, at a playoff spot.
In fact, if they win tonight, they will gain on someone because since the Rangers and Astros are playing each other, one of them has to lose, so Terry Francona’s squad would be either 3-1/2 or 4 out with a victory this evening.
The hitting has picked up and the starting pitching continues to be solid even with injuries to Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, mostly because Josh Tomlin and Cody Anderson have picked up the slack.
Because the Indians aren’t a great team, another leak has sprung up and right now, Francona is showing stubbornness in not trying something different.
And that would be the bullpen, more specifically, the two guys the skipper has used in the 7th and 8th innings for most of the season, namely Zack McAllister and Bryan Shaw.
Neither pitcher has been particularly effective since the beginning of August.
McAllister has a world-class fastball, clocked in the upper 90s MPH, but doesn’t have a reliable off-speed pitch, which is exactly the reason he is no longer a starter. When he has good fastball command, he can be a solid bullpen option, but lately? Not so much.
Since August 1st, here are his statistics–
13-1/3 IP, 15 hits, 5 walks, 14 strikeouts, 3 home runs allowed, and a 4.05 ERA.
That’s not exactly locking down the opposition hitters.
Shaw has been in his role longer, dating back to the second half of the 2014 season, and perhaps the wear and tear of working as much as he has is taking a toll.
And although he has a plus heater, and can have a biting slider, as of late, that pitch has been hanging, and a slider that doesn’t slide gets hit a long way.
Here is what Shaw has done since the end of July–
20-1/3 IP, 27 hits, 5 walks, 16 strikeouts, 3 homers allowed, and a 4.43 ERA.
The troubles these two have gone through are taking a toll on closer Cody Allen, who has often been used for more than one inning lately, and that could cause another problem over the last three weeks of the season.
As we all know, Tito is extremely loyal to his guys, and seems willing to go down with the ship with McAllister and Shaw.
It would have been nice had GM Chris Antonetti would have gone out and got another bullpen arm before the end of August when he saw his team creeping back into contention.
What can Francona do?
He has started giving some high leverage work to veteran Jeff Manship, who came into the year with a career ERA of over 5.00. He’s been doing the job, as he has a 1.11 ERA for the Tribe covering 32-1/3 innings.
Guys like Ryan Webb and Austin Adams haven’t been lights out in their limited chances, so a bold choice would be to see what rookie Shawn Armstrong can give the team.
Armstrong has pitched 5-2/3 innings with the big club and hasn’t allowed a run, striking out seven. He had 16 saves at Columbus, fanning 80 hitters in 49-2/3 frames.
There is a precedent for such a move. In 2002, the Angels won their only World Series title using Francisco Rodriguez throughout the stretch and the playoffs.
It has been done.
Francona just has to stop being stubborn and try someone else. The Indians aren’t in a situation where they can lose a game in the late innings. It’s a gamble for sure, but it’s not like McAllister and Shaw have been dominant either.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 