Last year, one of the biggest problems the Cleveland Indians had was its bullpen. The relief corps was beset with injuries from early in the season, and never really righted itself.
While the starters had a 3.39 ERA in 2018, the bullpen ERA was 4.60, up almost two full runs per game (2.89 ERA in ’17) from the previous year.
Bryan Shaw signed with Colorado as a free agent after 2017, and Andrew Miller was felled by a series of injuries, and only pitched in 37 games last season.
And Nick Goody, who was very effective in the early relief role, also missed much of the year.
That put a major strain on Cody Allen, and he was worked hard early in the year because of the absences of the others, and by the end of the year, he was pretty much out of gas.
However, we feel pretty optimistic about the relief pitching heading into spring training because, unlike the outfield, the front office has brought in plenty of alternatives. It’s the proverbial throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall, and hoping some of it sticks.
With the volatility of relief pitching in the sport, that’s an acceptable way of doing business.
One holdover candidate we got a glimpse of at the end of ’18 was Jon Edwards, who appeared in nine games and had a 3.12 ERA, striking out 10 in 8-2/3 innings. Unless Edwards is shelled in camp, he would appear to have the team made.
Jefry Rodriguez came to Cleveland in the Yan Gomes deal, and made his debut in the big leagues a year ago with the Nationals, pitching as both a starter and a reliever. He has control issues (37 walks in 52 innings), but he has a 6.75 ERA starting and a 2.70 ERA in six relief gigs.
If he can harness his control, he could be a factor late in games for the Tribe.
Chih-Wei Hu was acquired from Tampa Bay and has a 3.52 ERA in 11 major league appearances, spanning two seasons, striking out 21 hitters in 23 innings.
Hu had a 3.06 ERA in AAA in 2017 before returning as a starter, which he was most of his career, in the minors last season.
Nick Wittgren, who just came over from Miami, has made 118 trips out of the ‘pen in the bigs over the last three seasons, compiling a 3.60 ERA, and is coming off his best season a year ago, with a 2.94 ERA in 31 contests in 2018.
Last Friday, the front office brought in their most accomplished reliever, inking Alex Wilson to a minor league deal. The 32 year old right-hander has a 3.23 ERA over 290 appearances in his six year career, with the Red Sox and Tigers.
Wilson is on a minor league deal, as is A. J. Cole, who was with the Nationals and Yankees a year ago, and had a 4.26 ERA with New York, punching out 49 in 38 innings.
Cole did allow 15 home runs in 48 innings total, but 8 of those came in dinger friendly Yankee Stadium.
And don’t forget they resigned Oliver Perez, who was a godsend a year ago when he signed on June 2nd. The lefty had a 1.39 ERA and 43 punch outs in 32-1/3 frames for Terry Francona in ’18.
They also have Tyler Olson (13 scoreless appearances in the second half after returning from the disabled list), and Adam Cimber, who was outstanding with the Padres, and Francona never found a comfort level with him.
The whole bullpen is set up because you have a closer in Brad Hand, and he’s a good one. As many wise baseball people have said, you start with the closer and build back from there.
Hand has saved 53 games over the past two seasons, and has whiffed over 100 hitters in relief over the past three years.
The only fear we have is the loyalty factor. Will Tito go with Goody and Neil Ramirez instead of let’s say Hu or Rodriguez even if the latter two pitch better in Arizona?
Making that mistake could be the difference between getting off to a quick start or a slow start to the 2019 season.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 