Once Tribe Gets The Lead, The Bullpen Locks It Up

We feel fairly certain opposing managers in Major League Baseball won’t be thrilled with the news that the Cleveland Indians might have another bullpen weapon in rookie Nick Sandlin.

Now, we don’t want to get too carried away with three appearances totalling 4-1/3 innings, but the hard throwing sidearmer seems to have made quite an impression on Terry Francona, Carl Willis, and Reuben Niebla.

With last Thursday game in the balance, Francona brought in the rookie in a 3-0 game in the bottom of the sixth with two Kansas City Royals on base, and six time all star Salvador Perez at the plate. Perez hits cleanup for the Royals.

Sandlin induced a double play grounder to get two quick outs and then followed up by getting Jorge Soler on another ground ball. He pitched a three up, three down seventh, including two strikeouts, turning the game over to James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase to close it out.

Generally, guys who throw from the side don’t get it up to home plate at 95 MPH, so it gives Francona an option to show opposing a different look late in games.

The Cleveland bullpen had already taken the look of a “if you aren’t ahead after six, it doesn’t look good for you” relief corps through the first 30 games because of the performances of Bryan Shaw, Karinchak, and Clase.

Shaw is a remarkable story. He already ranks 8th on the Indians’ all time list for appearances with 391, and should be at least 6th by the end of the season. He was a mainstay of Francona’s bullpen from 2013 through 2017, pitching in 378 games, and led the American League in appearances 2014, 2016, and 2017 before departing for Colorado and a big contract.

He suffered through two bad seasons with the Rockies, a place not known to be kind to pitchers, and then pitched in just six games with Seattle last season, allowing 12 runs in six innings.

When he signed with the Tribe before spring training, there were plenty of comments, mostly negative. We thought what the heck, maybe he could regain his regular form after pretty much a year of inactivity.

He’s rewarded the Indians’ trust by being the man Francona calls on to pitch the 7th. He has a 2.03 ERA in 13 games, striking out 14 in 13-1/3 frames. The only down statistic is his eight walks.

Karinchek is putting up unworldly numbers right now. He allowed a HR to Hunter Dozier last week perhaps just to prove he is human, as he has allowed just 3 hits in 15 innings for the season, striking out two batters per inning. And his control, an issue in the past, has been excellent to date with just three walks.

He has been so dominant, he ranks 4th in WAR for the Indians at this point of the season, behind Jose Ramirez, Shane Bieber, and Aaron Civale.

Clase, with his 100 MPH cutter, has been more dominant than his numbers indicate, and his numbers are good (1.26 ERA and 15 K’s in 14-1/3 IP). He’s allowed 15 hits in those innings, but only six of those have been classed as line drives. The rest are ground balls that have gone either through the infield or been fielded but the batter beat the throw to first.

He’s also walked just three batters on the season.

We haven’t even mentioned Cal Quantrill (2.12 ERA), Phil Maton (16 strikeouts in 11 innings), and Nick Wittgren, who after a couple of shaky appearances has allowed just a single run in his last five outings.

And Rule 5 draftee Trevor Stephan hasn’t been in a game since April 28th.

The starting pitching gets a lot of the headlines because they keep the Indians in almost every game. But once the Tribe gets the lead, it’s very tough to get it back because of the bullpen. And if Sandlin continues to do what he did in KC, it’s a nightmare for opposing hitters and managers.

Previewing the ’21 Tribe

This week is the week baseball fans have been looking forward to all winter. Opening Day of the 2021 season starts on Thursday, April 1st.

The Cleveland Indians have made the post-season in five of the last six seasons, and in 2019, when they didn’t, they still won 93 games.

Can they do it again in 2021?

Why they can make the playoffs. Zach Plesac joins Shane Bieber as a second ace of the starting rotation and the rest of the young pitchers keep the Indians in every game, much like last season. Logan Allen’s strong spring training translates into a solid regular season.

The back end of the bullpen, led by James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase, and Nick Wittgren, make Terry Francona’s team unbeatable if they have a lead after six innings.

Offensively, Jose Ramirez has another incredible season at the plate, comparable to the recent seasons where he finished in the top three of the MVP voting. Josh Naylor fulfills the expectations everyone seems to have for him and becomes a guy who can put up an 800 OPS.

Andres Gimenez does a solid job at the plate, and shows why he was the correct choice to take over at shortstop because of his glove.

Eddie Rosario hits like he always has at Progressive Field, putting up 30 HR and knocking in 100 runs, and Franmil Reyes shows more consistency than ever, belting 35-40 homers.

Why they won’t make the playoffs. The inexperienced young starters don’t hold up over the entire 162 game schedule. Aaron Civale continues the struggles he had in the latter half of the 2020 campaign, and Triston McKenzie can only give the big club about 50 innings.

The offense simply can’t score enough runs to win games, and Jose Ramirez gets pitched around in any situation where the opposing team can avoid him.

The pitching isn’t help by poor outfield defense. Naylor shows he’s the best option at first base, as the other candidates for the position, first Jake Bauers, then Bobby Bradley struggle to contribute at the plate.

Reyes continues to be streaky at the plate, with periods where he is red hot, followed by several periods of 0 for 20 and 2 for 44 mixed in.

The bullpen is spotty, Karinchak struggles with his control enough that Terry Francona can’t trust him in tight games, which because of the hitting, the Indians are involved in a lot of.

And Gimenez struggles enough at the plate that Amed Rosario moves back there vs. lefties, making the defense struggle at another spot.

The Indians won’t be a bad team this season, in fact, we don’t think they will be below the .500 mark. However, an awful lot of things will need to go right for them to make the playoffs. The inexperienced rotation (remember, no one besides Bieber has pitched more than 250 innings in the big leagues) has to be very, very good.

That means two other members in the starting rotation (Plesac, Civale, or based on spring training, Logan Allen) have to be of all star caliber. And the bullpen has to be excellent as well, with Karinchak and Clase overpowering hitters.

We believe you need seven solid bats to have a good lineup, and right now, the Tribe has Ramirez, Eddie Rosario, Cesar Hernandez, and Franmil Reyes. We think Naylor can be another, but can two others step up?

It will be an interesting season for sure, as we watch Gimenez and Naylor develop, and also look at the progress of the players at the AAA and AA levels, once minor league action starts.

We figure somewhere in the neighborhood of 83-85 wins. They will be a competitive team, but won’t have enough to make the post-season in 2021

Tribe Pitching: Talented, But Lack Experience.

Last week, we took a look at the questions regarding the everyday players for the Cleveland Indians, a group that ranked 13th in the AL in runs scored and has substracted Francisco Lindor and Carlos Santana.

This week, we look at the team’s strength, the pitching staff, which led the league in ERA in the shortened 2020 season, led by Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. Still, there are questions for the Indians on the pitching mound.

Really, when you think about it, why shouldn’t there be? In the past two seasons, the front office has traded Cy Young Award winners Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer, as well as Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger. That the Tribe still has a solid staff speaks to the way the organization develops pitching.

Outside of Bieber, the most innings thrown in the big leagues by the candidates to join him in the rotation are the 217 thrown by Adam Plutko, who if he makes the team out of spring training will likely be either the fifth starter or working out of the bullpen.

The other spots behind Bieber figure to be Zach Plesac (171 big league innings), Aaron Civale (131), Triston McKenzie (31), and Cal Quantrill (135). That’s a lot of inexperience. None of that quartet have pitched the number of innings a regular rotation starter throws in a normal 162 game schedule.

While we like Plesac a lot, and McKenzie and Quantrill have electric stuff, we do have concerns about Civale, who faded last season after a complete game win over Pittsburgh. In his last 40 innings in 2020, he gave up 28 earned runs, a 6.30 ERA.

They do have some depth in this area, but it is young, unproven depth. Left-hander Logan Allen, who came over in the Bauer deal in ’19, has had a couple of cups of coffee in the bigs, but has thrown just 38 innings with a 5.40 ERA. He will be 24 in May.

Another lefty who came in that deal, 26-year-old Scott Moss, has yet to make his debut, and has only four AAA starts, but did have a 2.96 ERA for three teams in 2019. And yet another southpaw is Sam Hentges, who suffered through a 2-13, 5.11 ERA at Akron in 2019, but is well regarded by the organization.

You also have righty Eli Morgan, 24, who had a 3.39 ERA across three levels in 2019, making one AAA start.

Our bet is Plutko opens the season as the fifth starter, with McKenzie. Moss, and Allen getting some starts in Columbus to open the year. Plutko is out of options, so this delays the decision the organization has to make on him.

In the bullpen, closer Brad Hand left via free agency, so it appears James Karinchak will assume that role in 2021. The rookie fanned 53 in 27 innings in 2020, and even earned his first big league save. He did walk 16, but when he can throw strikes, he is basically unhittable.

A PED suspension in spring training did not allow us to see the other young Tribe arm with electric stuff out of the bullpen in Emmanuel Clase. The right-hander had a 2.31 ERA with Texas in 2019, and reportedly throws a 100 MPH cutter. Frankie Lindor said he was nasty when the Indians faced the Rangers in ’19.

The rest of the bullpen will include veteran reliable Nick Wittgren, Cam Hill, Phil Maton, and perhaps some of the guys who don’t make the rotation.

Wittgren has pitched to a 2.99 ERA in two years with 88 strikeouts in 81 innings with the Indians. Hill was solid as a rookie in ’20, although he ended the year with a couple of rocky outings, and Maton became Sandy Alomar’s go to guy late in the season, and probably got overused.

There is also Kyle Nelson, a rookie lefty who made just one bad appearance a year ago, but has fanned 176 hitters in 122 minor league innings.

We would like to see the organization bring in one more veteran arm (we always like Tijuan Walker), to take some pressure off of the youngsters.

We know that won’t happen because of the financial limitations the ownership has put on the front office.

The rotation could be among the league’s best, but there are a lot of questions in terms of experience. That’s a big worry for us in evaluating the 2021 Cleveland Indians.

A Realistic Plan For Tribe

Over the weekend, the Indians payroll (or lack of it) was in the news again, as the front office worked through the media to justify the reduction of the money being paid to players.

The situation noted was Tampa’s letting pitcher Charlie Morton leave via free agency, although we would say not paying a 37-year-old starting pitcher over $10 million isn’t quite the same as what the Tribe is doing.

First, using the term “reducing” when it comes to players’ salaries in Cleveland is being gentle. When you go from $130 million in 2017 to something projected to be under $70 million in 2021 should be categorized as “gutting” the payroll.

And that figure is with Francisco Lindor on the team. If he is traded, which seems like a certainty, the likely number could be closer to $50 million.

Unfortunately, the owners of the Indians don’t want to address the situation publicly. We understand if Paul Dolan were to speak to the media, he would use the pandemic, attendance loss, blah, blah, blah, and no one would press him (nor would he give you a truthful answer).

It is curious how the virus hasn’t affected teams like the Padres, White Sox, and Nationals from appearing like they want to add talent this winter, and the Royals have been making moves as well.

We were challenged on social media, since we have a huge problem with this salary cut being done during a period where the Indians have made the playoffs in four of the last five years, and won 93 games in the season where they didn’t qualify.

We get that the Indians cannot spend with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers, but a payroll of $100 million shouldn’t be out of the question.

Based on this, signing Lindor to a multi-year deal between $25-$30 million per year would put the projected salary figure in the $80 million range and you now have the foundation of two superstars in their prime (with Jose Ramirez) and one of the best starting rotations in the game as a basis of contending.

Besides, as we’ve seen this week with Blake Snell and Yu Darvish, you can always trade a star player in the middle of a contract if you decide it’s not working out.

While we would be interested in playing younger players in ’21, we would spend money, preferably one year deals on some hitters to help the lineup transition to a younger look going forward.

We would like to plug in Daniel Johnson in CF, and see if Owen Miller and/or Yu Chang could hold down 2B, but we would provide Terry Francona with some options.

If you are contending, there is a limit to how much you can watch young players struggle. On the other hand, if the lineup is producing runs despite the struggles, a team can be more patient with young players.

FYI, we didn’t include Nolan Jones because he’s only played a half year at the AA level, and it appears he will also be making a position switch.

We would look at adding guys like a Nick Markakis, Robbie Grossman, or Tommy LaStella as low cost free agents (you might have to wait until late January or early February to see if asking prices come down). They could tie you over in a corner outfield spot or at second base if the young guys aren’t ready.

We would also add another bullpen arm. We would go into camp with James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase being the primary late inning relievers, but why not take a shot on pitchers like Sean Doolittle or a Hector Rondon if you can get them at a solid price.

Now, we understand the ownership doesn’t care what we would do. They would rather cry about money even though as a family they have a tremendous amount of money, more than we or any other fan has.

There is absolutely no reason for this type of dismantling of a contending baseball team. This is not an aging team and it is also not a squad on the decline in terms of the record on the field.

If you are a fan of the Indians, it’s a sad, sad time.

Can Tito Afford To Keep Handing It To Hand?

It is hard to come up with any criticism of the Cleveland Indians’ pitching staff. They lead the American League in ERA at 2.56.

They also lead the AL in strikeouts, least walks, and shutouts. The only category they are struggling a bit in is allowing the long ball. They’ve allowed the fifth most in the league, but that is really a product of being around the strike zone so much.

Most of the home runs are of the solo variety, and throughout the history of baseball, some of the game’s best hurlers have allowed tons of homers. The career leader is Jamie Moyer, and the next four pitchers are all in the Hall of Fame: Robin Roberts, Ferguson Jenkins, Phil Niekro, and Don Sutton.

However, there is one thing that should be a concern for Terry Francona and his pitching coaching staff of Carl Willis, Ruben Niebla, and Brian Sweeney. And it may be the most important pitching spot for a contending team. It’s the status of closer Brad Hand.

Last night, Hand picked up his 5th save, but it certainly wasn’t pretty. Coming in with a 3-0 lead handed to him by Shane Bieber and Nick Wittgren, Hand walked the lead off hitter on five pitches.

He then got Miguel Cabrera to lineout to LF, while the next hitter, Jonathan Schoop reached on catchers’ interference, which wasn’t Hand’s doing.

Another line drive to left was followed by an RBI double, so suddenly, the Tigers had the tying runs in scoring position. Cameron Maybin bounced to the mound, and the Tribe won the game.

In Hand’s 5-2/3 innings this season, he’s allowed five hits and four walks, along with seven runs, four of them earned.

He’s made seven appearances on the season, and has produced just one clean inning, that on August 4th. And he’s yet to protect a one run lead heading to the ninth.

He did come into a scoreless tie vs. the White Sox on July 29th, but proceeded to allow four runs (three earned) facing five hitters, retiring just one.

If the rest of the bullpen were struggling, we could understand Francona’s reticence to move away from Hand as the closer, but that is not the case. In fact, the skipper has started to use rookie James Karinchak in high leverage situations, aka the “Andrew Miller” role.

Nick Wittgren, who closed some a year ago when Hand was down with a tired arm, has pitched eight times (8 IP) to a 2.25 ERA and striking out 10. He’s prone to giving up the long ball, he gave up 10 gopher balls in 2019, but just one this season.

Another rookie, Cam Hill, has also earned a save, and outside of an outing against the Cubs last week, has also been very effective.

The questions are these for Tito, does he feel confident using Hand in a one run save opportunity? Would he use Karinchak in that spot, if he hadn’t already use him earlier? Would he go to Hill or Wittgren?

Again, it would be one thing if the veteran lefty, and three time All Star struggled once or twice, but he’s been shaky in six of his seven outings, and his velocity seems down, and he’s had command issues with his slider.

If Francona isn’t nervous, everyone else is.

This isn’t a normal 162 game season. The Indians are a little over a third of the way through the season, so patience is in short supply.

Perhaps Willis and his guys see something to indicate Hand is close to regaining his usual form. If they aren’t, it will be interesting to see what course of action is.

Well, At Least The Pitching Has Been Great

The Cleveland Indians have played 11 baseball games. The league earned run average coming into play on Monday was 4.57, meaning the average American League team gives up about four and a half runs per game.

If the Tribe offense had done what the average AL team could do every game, Cleveland’s record would be 11-0. That’s right, the Indians’ pitching staff has not allowed more than four runs in any game this season.

Quite frankly, that’s remarkable.

Friday night, Mike Clevinger didn’t have it. He allowed four runs to the Twins in the first two innings. After the game, fans were saying it was bound to happen, the great pitching couldn’t continue.

Minnesota won the game 4-1, so again an average offensive night would have resulted in a win.

This is not another piece designed to bury the currently anemic Tribe hitting attack, but rather to praise the remarkable job the pitching staff has done.

Cleveland pitchers lead the league in ERA at 2.35, strikeouts (113), and least walks allowed (15). Yes, it does mean that Tribe pitchers are collectively walking less than two batters per game.

Imagine how good the staff would be if they could face the Tribe hitters?

We know that comes off as snarky, but the Minnesota staff leads the AL in hits per nine innings, in part because they held Indians’ hitters to just two hits in back to back contests over the weekend.

The Tribe’s hurlers have a strikeout to walk ratio of 7.53. The next best rate in the AL? That would be Baltimore and New York at 3.29, so the Indians’ ratio is almost double the second best rate.

About the only negative thing you can save about the pitching is it has allowed the long ball at a league average rate, giving up 11 gopher balls. Minnesota scored all its runs by homers on Saturday vs. Carlos Carrasco, and last night, the Reds scored all three of their tallies on dingers.

The starters are getting the bulk of the credit, and rightly so. Shane Bieber has been unreal in his two starts, and Clevinger’s second outing was the only one where the first pitcher on the hill for the Tribe didn’t see the sixth inning.

However the bullpen, figured to be a weakness, has pitched admirably too. Only two of the eight members of the ‘pen have allowed opponents to score earned runs (Brad Hand, Dominic Leone), while the other six guys have pitched 23-2/3 frames without allowing an earned run.

Two rookies, James Karinchak and Cam Hill, have already earned saves, each the first of their respective careers. And to date, the former has lived up to expectations by allowing just an unearned run (due to the new extra inning rule) and striking out eight in five innings.

That means in 10-1/3 big league innings, he has struck out 16 batters.

The whole staff specializes in the strikeout. Adam Cimber has just one in 3-2/3 innings, Adam Plutko fanned just four in six innings in his lone start, and Nick Wittgren has whiffed three in four frames.

Otherwise, every other man who has pitched for Cleveland this season has at least as many strikeouts as innings pitched.

What’s scary is how long can this continue? When the offense starts to perk up, will the pitching staff show signs of being mortal? You would think both parts of the team will regress to the mean eventually.

That doesn’t take away from the remarkable job by this staff. Appreciate what you are seeing. It’s unbelievable.

Tribe Depending On Some Young Players Continuing To Progress

Many people, including us, feel the Cleveland Indians will be a contender for a playoff spot this season, and to us, it wouldn’t have mattered if the season were 162 games or just 60.

However, much of those good vibes are based on some players with very little major league experience coming through in 2020.

For us, until a player establishes a track record, they have to be viewed with a jaundiced eye. And no doubt, the Tribe has their fair share of these players.

First is centerfielder Oscar Mercado. Remember, the Cardinals gave up on the former second round pick in 2013, trading him to the Indians for a couple of lower tiered prospects in 2018.

Mercado had a solid rookie season, hitting .269 with 15 HR and a 761 OPS, but walked just 28 times vs. 84 strikeouts. However, he thrived at Progressive Field, hitting .289 with 11 dingers (844 OPS) vs. .250 (679 OPS) on the road.

He struggled mightily in August, before having a good September.

If he regresses, Terry Francona does have some alternatives. Delino DeShields can fill the bill defensively for sure, but he’s never really hit well in the big leagues, and if Bradley Zimmer continues on the torrid pace he has set since summer camp started, he could wind up there.

It is worth keeping an eye on though.

The other area where much is counted on from young players is in the starting rotation, where Cleveland needs Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac to be solid starters right away.

The recently turned 25-years-old Civale pitches like a veteran, but has only thrown 58 innings at the big league level, and have less than 400 innings in the minor leagues.

He’s made 10 starts with the Indians, and in only two of them did he see the 7th inning.

His numbers last year were excellent, 44 hits allowed, striking out 46 while walking just 16, and he reminded many people of Corey Kluber in his manner and the way he attacked hitters, but he’s slated as the fourth starter, and the front office is counting on him to be the guy he was a year ago.

Plesac, who is also 25, is barely more experienced at the major league level than Civale, making 21 starts, firing 115 innings.

He actually threw less in the minors though, pitching just 259 innings because he had Tommy John surgery in college and the Tribe brought him back slowly.

After six starts at Akron, compiling an 0.96 ERA, he was on the fast track to Cleveland, and injuries had him with the big club for his debut in Fenway Park on May 28th.

The short season actually helps both Civale and Plesac because they won’t have deal with an innings increase threshold this season.

As for alternatives? Adam Plutko would be the first option should either falter, and the organization has Logan Allen, Scott Moss, and if he is healthy, Jefry Rodriguez as options. However, the latter group doesn’t have a real track record of success in the bigs either.

And then there is James Karinchak, counted on to be a set up man for Brad Hand.

We all know about Karinchak’s gaudy strikeout feats, his high octane fastball, and his knee buckling curve.

However, he has walked a lot of people in his minor league career, which only spans three seasons and a little over 100 innings (82 games). His walk ratio per nine innings is 5.5, and that’s probably why Francona hasn’t fallen in love with the soon to be 24-year-old.

Relievers who don’t throw strikes aren’t any manager’s friend, and Tito is no different.

The biggest problem is Francona doesn’t have a lot of alternatives if Karinchak isn’t effective. He would have to turn to prospects Kyle Nelson or Cam Hill or maybe veterans Phil Maton or Hunter Wood, but none have the filthy stuff Karinchak has.

It’s a bit of a high wire act for the organization, but the safety net is how these players performed last season. But, no doubt the Tribe needs progress from this quartet of young players.

The Little Known Veteran Trio In Tribe ‘Pen

With the Major League Baseball season starting Friday night, the bullpen of the Cleveland Indians appears to have a lot of uncertainty.

We know Brad Hand will be the closer, but the suspension of Emmanuel Clase for the season has the dreams of the young duo of Clase and James Karinchak setting up Hand on hold.

We still think Karinchak will play a big role for the ’20 Tribe, if he can throw strikes. If he does, he will strikeout a lot of hitters. In the minor leagues a year ago, he fanned 74 batters in 30-1/3 innings, and followed up that by whiffing eight big leaguers in 5-1/3 frames.

At this point, people know about this pitcher with a plus fastball and an electric curve.

They also know about the ageless southpaw, Oliver Perez, who will turn 39 next month, and posted a 3.98 ERA in 40-2/3 innings last year, striking out 48 and walking 12.

Perez held left-handed hitters to a .207 batting average last season, but right handers hit .286 against him.

The mirror image, so to speak, of Perez, is sidearming righty Adam Cimber. Cimber had a 4.45 ERA a year ago, but right-handed hitters did hit .244 against him. Lefties batted .296 with a 943 OPS, so Terry Francona will have to be very careful in spotting him vs. players who swing from the left side.

No doubt, it will be interesting to see how the new three batter rule will affect how Francona uses each of this pair of relievers. They may become guys brought in to get the last out of an inning.

Nick Wittgren might have been the guy Tito trust most besides Hand last season. He had 4 saves with a 2.81 ERA in 55 games, but became more prone to giving up the long ball as the season went on, allowing seven (of 10) after the all star break.

They guys no one really talks about are Phil Maton, James Hoyt, and Hunter Wood.

We remember seeing Maton in his rookie season pitching against the Indians for San Diego and was intrigued. He pitched 1-2/3 innings, allowed one hit and struck out three (Jason Kipnis, Erik Gonzalez, and Francisco Lindor).

In his first two years with the Padres, he fanned 101 in 90-1/3 innings, walking 37. He was prone to giving up the long ball, allowing 13 homers.

Last season, the bottom fell out for the 27-year-old right-hander. He pitched in 21 games, and allowed 34 hits, including six dingers. He was traded to the Indians for international slot money in July.

At Columbus, he must have figured something out, striking out 17 in 10-2/3 innings before being called up. He pitched in nine games with Cleveland, a total of 12-1/3 innings, striking out 13, and allowed just one homer with a 2.92 ERA.

There is talent there, and last year was the outlier for Maton. That’s what should get him the opportunity at the start of the season.

At 33, Hoyt is the oldest of the trio, and kicked around the minors and independent leagues for six years before getting a shot with Houston in 2016.

In 65 games with the Astros in ’16 and ’17, he whiffed 94 hitters in 71-1/3 innings, but was prone to the long ball, giving up 12 dingers, although seven of those were at Minute Maid Park.

He suffered through knee and elbow problems in 2018, pitching in just 30 innings, facing just three hitters at the big league level.

He spent most of last season at Columbus, but came up in September, throwing 8-1/3 innings, striking out 10 with a 2.16 ERA.

Francona used him in a huge spot against the Twins on September 15th, and he got five big outs in the 8th and 9th in a 7-5 Tribe win.

The long locked, soon to be 27-year-old Wood, came over from Tampa Bay last season with Christian Arroyo, and was kind of considered a throw in.

He has the least swing and miss stuff so far, accumulating only 81 strikeouts in 86-2/3 innings, and has allowed 88 hits. And he’s another who is prone to giving up the long ball, allowing 11 in those innings, including 7 in 45-2/3 innings last year.

It would seem here that if this trio can keep the ball in the park, they should be good options for Francona this season. Our thought is there are two things relievers have to do: Throw strikes and keep the ball in the park.

We feel better about Hoyt and Maton than we do about Wood. Hopefully, all three can help the Tribe bullpen in 2020.

Tribe Probably Looking For A New Closer…For 2021

It has been a long time since Terry Francona has needed to groom a closer, but other than winning baseball games, that might be his most important secondary chore in the 2020 season.

When Francona took over as Tribe skipper in 2013, Chris Perez was the closer, coming off a 39 save season in 2012, and although he had some injury issues during the campaign, he saved 25 for Cleveland in ’13.

When Perez was out, Francona used Vinnie Pestano and Bryan Shaw to close, but he was using a young 24-year-old right-hander drafted just two years prior as a set up man.

That pitcher was Cody Allen, and he took over the closer role the following season and saved a club record 156 games for the Tribe over the next five years, including seven in post-season play in 2016 and 2017.

With Allen on the roster and pitching effectively, Tito didn’t have to worry about who was pitching the ninth inning, he simply handed the ball to Allen, and the reliever was always ready to get four outs if need be.

Allen was such a good fit and a team player, that when the Indians traded for Andrew Miller in ’16, Francona used the southpaw as a “super reliever” bringing him in whenever the fire was the hottest.

He could do that because of the confidence he had in Allen.

In 2018, when both Allen and Miller started to leak some oil, perhaps because the extra work in the ’16 run to the World Series, president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff traded for San Diego closer Brad Hand, who saved eight games that season, and 34 a year ago.

Hand is signed through this season, but has a club option for $10 million for the 2021 season, and even without the uncertainty of baseball finances next year due to the coronavirus, we would doubt Cleveland wants to pay a closer that kind of cash.

At the initial spring training, people were looking forward to seeing the combination of youngsters Emmanuel Clase, 21, who came over in the Corey Kluber trade, and rookie James Karinchak, 23, who debuted last September, setting up the veteran Hand.

A righty, Clase has a 100 MPH cutter that Frankie Lindor said was the nastiest pitch he’s ever seen, and appeared in 21 games for Texas, going 2-3 with one save and a 2.31 ERA in 23.1 innings with 21 strikeouts.

Karinchak is famous, at least here, for his gaudy strikeout rates coming through the Indians’ farm system.

However, Clase has been suspended for the ’20 season due to PED usage, so the manager will not get to see him under fire this season.

So, it would seem that if Karinchak can throw strikes, which has been an issue in his minor league career, he could give Francona enough confidence to use him as the closer in 2021, and in turn, allow the front office to either pick up Hand’s option and trade him or not pick up the option at all.

On the other hand, as former Tribe GM John Hart used to say, closers fall out of trees, so as the 2020 season plays out, it may be someone else who earns the skipper’s confidence.

Perhaps a veteran like James Hoyt or Phil Maton, or maybe injury plagued prospect Triston McKenzie gets used as a bullpen arm. Or it could be someone like Cam Hill or Kyle Nelson.

Remember, it’s not just the arm that makes a solid closer, it’s dealing with the pressure of pitching with the game on the line. The closer has to be someone who can shake off a bad performance and go out and do the job the next night. Kind of an “everyday” pitcher.

We know the Indians want to win ballgames this season, but finding a successor to Hand might be the most important secondary thing to come out of the 2020 season.

Tribe Killing It In Simulated Seasons

With baseball still on the shelf, the only way you can get the feeling of following a team day by day is by checking out the various simulations of the 2020 season out there.

In April, we checked out a couple such games, the Out Of The Park simulation being conducted on BaseballReference.com and the other being played out on StratOMatic.com.

According to both of these sites, baseball fans in northeast Ohio and missing one helluva season.

BaseballReference.com: The Tribe leads the AL Central with a 48-27 record and holds a seven game bulge on the second place Minnesota Twins. That mark is the best in the American League, and third best in baseball, behind the Dodgers and Cardinals.

Offensively, the Indians are being paced by Carlos Santana (.315, 14 HR, 54 RBI, 932 OPS), Francisco Lindor (.288, 16 HR, 57 RBI, 887 OPS), and Jose Ramirez (.274, 16 HR, 46 RBI, 867 OPS).

Franmil Reyes has belted 20 long balls, and Tyler Naquin returned to the active roster in May and is hitting .323. Jordan Luplow is getting steady playing time and has 10 homers to go along with a .283 batting average.

Newcomers Cesar Hernandez (.301, 6 HR, 34 RBI, .370 OBP) and Domingo Santana (.256, 10 HR) and fit in quite well to the lineup.

As we noted in April, this game has been playing Greg Allen at the everyday CF, and he’s done well, batting .280 with a .347 on base percentage.

Pitching wise, Shane Bieber has fit the profile as a staff ace with an 11-4 mark and a 2.98 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 114 innings. Aaron Civale is 7-3 with a 3.75 ERA, and though Carlos Carrasco (4-4, 4.30) and Mike Clevinger (3-3, 5.37) have struggled a bit, rookie lefty Scott Moss has picked up the slack, going 7-1 with a 4.48 ERA.

Brad Hand has 17 saves, and James Karinchak has a 1.98 ERA in 13 innings, but has fanned 24 hitters in that span.

The game had the Tribe picking up veteran relievers John Axford, Jim Johnson, and Daniel Stumpf as well.

One bone to pick–they had Cleveland dealing Tyler Freeman, Brayan Rocchio, and Juan Carlos Mejia to Texas for catcher Robinson Chirinos, a deal the Indians’ front office would never make.

StratOMatic.com: This simulation also has the Tribe sitting with a 48-27 record and an 8 game lead over the Twins in the Central. Cleveland has the second best mark in the AL (behind Houston) and third in MLB overall (Dodgers).

Reyes is the offensive machine for the Indians, batting .334 with 21 home runs and 54 RBIs, Lindor leads the team in ribbies with 55, along with 19 bombs and a .271 batting average.

Ramirez checks in at .259 with 14 homers and 45 runs knocked in.

They also have Luplow getting more playing time, and he’s responded with 7 HR, 26 RBI, and a .290 batting average.

Hernandez has had a fine season to date here as well, batting .295 with 8 dingers. And Carlos Santana is batting .300 and is third in the AL in walks with 50. His power is down so far with just 6 homers.

They have used Delino DeShields as the primary CF, hitting .258 although Bradley Zimmer has just been recalled. Oscar Mercado is on the team, but batting just .232.

Clevinger has been the best pitcher, going 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA and 74 punchouts in 73 innings, while Bieber has been solid, with an 8-5 mark, 3.59 ERA and 114 whiffs in 100 frames.

Zach Plesac is 7-4 with a 3.57 ERA.

Brad Hand has struggled. He has 21 saves, but a 5.73 ERA, but the relievers have been buoyed by strong performances from Phil Maton (1.44 ERA), James Hoyt (1.26 ERA in just 14 innings).

Karinchak has a 3.20 ERA in 25.1 innings with 32 strikeouts, and he has been joined by rookies Cam Hill and Kyle Nelson.

If these games are even close to realism, we are missing a great season to date by the Indians. Guess that should make everyone even more sad about what is going on in The National Pastime.