With the Cleveland Indians’ recent winning ways, we have seen a return to the way Terry Francona likes to manage a bullpen.
Francona likes to use certain relievers with a lead and others when the Indians are trailing. We saw this with Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller, and Cody Allen when the Tribe was winning a lot of games in 2016 and 2017.
Yes, the Indians still have the best bullpen ERA in the AL at 3.35, but they are 12th in strikeouts by relievers, but again, they haven’t thrown as many innings as other teams.
Brad Hand has done an outstanding job in the closer role all season long and should make the American League All-Star team, but with all the winning lately, he may be showing a little bit of fatigue.
Hand had given up five runs all season before Tuesday night’s appearance in which he gave up five runs in the ninth inning vs. Kansas City.
It was his fifth appearance in six days, and since a two inning outing against the Reds in a 2-1 win on June 11th, he has struggled just a bit.
He had given up 5 hits in 4-2/3 frames since that outing, after allowing just 14 hits in 29 innings up to that point.
We aren’t blaming Hand at all, but what we are pointing out is the need for another reliable arm in the back of the Cleveland bullpen.
Nick Wittgren has been Francona’s eighth inning guy since he had a two inning save in Seattle on April 17th, and for the most part he has pitched better than he ever had in his major league career to this point.
But his recent appearance have resembled with he was in Miami, a solid reliever, but not someone with a high strikeout rate.
Veteran Tyler Clippard has been solid too, but he’s not a flame thrower either. He throws strikes and keeps the ball in the yard, but he isn’t the type of guy who opponents fear in the 7th or 8th inning.
Francona has started to use Nick Goody more in high leverage situations too, but again, he’s not the kind of reliever who can blow hitters away.
Veteran Oliver Perez has been the most reliable lefty besides Hand, mostly because he throws strikes and holds left-handed hitters to a 471 OPS.
Help could be coming in the form of James Karinchak as soon as he gets healthy from a hamstring pull.
Starting the year in Akron, the righty struck out a mind-boggling 24 hitters in 10 innings, and then went to Columbus and fanned eight in three innings.
Those figures are right, in 13 minor league innings, Karinchak has whiffed 32 batters in 13 innings. In his minor league career (he was drafted in 2017), he struck out 144 in 85 frames.
The Indians have promoted relievers quickly if they show dominance. Allen made a quick leap to the majors, being drafted in 2010, and debuting with the Tribe in 2012.
Kyle Crockett and Perci Garner (remember him) also made surprising rises through the system.
You could also see 22 year old Kyle Nelson, currently at Akron, before the season ends too. Nelson has 154 strikeouts in 104 minor league innings, including 30 in 20 innings (allowing just 9 hits) at AA.
Sidearmer Nick Sandlin, drafted last year, could also be a factor. He had a 1.56 ERA at Akron before being promoted to Columbus.
So, help could be on the way for Francona, and it will be interesting to see what the front office does after the All Star break.
There is potential to add some power arms to the relief corps by the end of this season. Keep an eye on the guys we mentioned.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 