On The Clevinger/Plesac Situation

When it was announced on August 9th that Cleveland Indians’ pitcher Zach Plesac had violated the protocol for COVID-19, it was greeted as a mistake made by a kid, an unfortunate error, but the hope was neither Plesac or any of his teammates would be infected.

The next day it was revealed that Mike Clevinger was with Plesac, and compounded the error by not letting anyone know, and flying back to Cleveland on the team plane.

Suddenly, the Tribe’s vaunted starting rotation was missing two pieces in a shortened season.

Now, a week later, the question of how this will play out is still up in the air.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported yesterday that veteran reliever Oliver Perez said he would opt out if the duo was returned to the active roster, and reportedly, the players as a whole are still very upset (and rightly so) that they were lied to by their teammates.

At the end of the day, the Indians’ organization has to do what is best for themselves both from a clubhouse standpoint and perhaps more importantly a competitive one.

There is no question the 2020 edition of the Tribe is better with Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac in the starting rotation. If they weren’t, then Adam Plutko would have been in the rotation to open the season, and one or both would have been in the satellite camp.

You have to also understand the players know this too.

That’s why talk of releasing the pair or trading them for essentially 20 cents on the dollar doesn’t make sense. The party who loses in this scenario is the Cleveland Indians.

People have referenced the Trevor Bauer transaction last season after the pitcher threw the ball over the centerfield fence in Kansas City in an act of frustration, but the Tribe got quite a haul for the right-hander, although we still think the deal was made more with 2020 in mind.

Our guess is if the return wasn’t there, Bauer would have finished the season in Cleveland. And we say that understanding Bauer didn’t put his teammates’ health in jeopardy.

At 13-9 during this abbreviated baseball schedule, the Tribe certainly has a solid chance to make the post-season, and perhaps win the division. The strength of the ballclub is the starting pitching. That would certainly be diminished without the men who started the second and fifth games of the season.

Without a doubt, the schedule was on the front office’s side in the disciplining of Clevinger and Plesac with three off days in an eight day span. Plutko has started twice in place of the former, and was okay in one start, and not so good in the other.

The team could’ve made the move to send Plesac to the minors anyway with all of the off days to bring up an extra position player or reliever.

We don’t want to marginalize the potential danger the pair put their teammates in, particularly when they saw the situations in Miami and St. Louis. Their reputations took a hit, as well they should have, but people need to understand this is not high school or college, so lesson learning cannot be the entire thing here.

This is professional sports and the players get paid to perform to the best of their abilities and the team is trying to win. Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac help the Indians in that pursuit.

And their teammates should understand they need them to win as well. So, cooler heads need to prevail.

First, both players need to throw themselves on the mercy of the rest of the roster. Be sincere, and in Plesac’s case, stop putting yourself out there on social media.

The team needs to accept this apology and start the healing process. Yes, the trust was broken, and only time will tell if it can be repaired.

There have been “bad guys” who have played Major League Baseball in the past, some who are well known (Ty Cobb), and others who have flown under the radar. We know the Indians’ clubhouse is especially tight knit, but no one says you have to like the people you work with, although it is nice.

It may sound callous to some, but the Cleveland Indians are a better team, and have a better chance to win with Clevinger and Plesac. Let’s hope everyone involved can understand this as well.

Baseball Is Back And The Strategy Of The Three Batter Rule…

Baseball is back, and how great is it to say that and hear that? The 60 game sprint is on, even if it has been made less urgent by the expansion of the playoffs to eight teams in each league.

We are all aware of the new rules this year too. There’s a DH in the National League (hooray!), and there are two rules we aren’t very fond of because it messes with the purity of the sport.

(Yes, we are, and we hate this expression–“a baseball purist”.

The rules putting a runner on second base to start the tenth inning is understandable for this year (a little bit), but games that last more than 12 innings are rare, and we can tell you the last long game the Indians were involved in, the 19 inning affair in Toronto in 2016, was beyond exciting.

We were in a public place, and as the game went on, more and more fans drew close to the televisions in the establishment, and when the Indians won the game, a cheer went up throughout the building like the Tribe has clinched a playoff spot.

We bring this up, because the other new rule, the three batter minimum came into play during Friday night’s opener against the Royals.

With two outs in the top of the 7th and Adam Cimber on the mound, he walked Nicky Lopez, and Kansas City manager Mike Matheny countered by pinch-hitting left handed hitter Franchy Cordero.

We wondered if Terry Francona would counter with Oliver Perez to get the lefty, because we forgot about the rule, but remembered that Whit Merrifield was on deck, followed by switch hitting Adeberto Mondesi.

Now, if Perez got Cordero, all is good. With the inning ended, Perez did not have to face the three batter minimum, and Tito could bring in a right-hander to start the 8th.

But if Perez failed to get Cordero, he then would have had to face Merrifield with two men on and the game very much in the balance.

In the past, we think that’s what Francona would have done, bring in Perez to get the pinch-hitter, and then bring in Nick Wittgren to face the all star, Merrifield.

Cimber, who still makes us a tad nervous when he faces a left-handed hitter, got Cordero to ground out to Cesar Hernandez, and the inning was over.

We feel the new rule really affects a specialist, like Cimber, because he has been very good in his career vs. right-handed hitters (.240 batting average against, 624 OPS), but left handed hitters turn into Ted Williams (.313, 1.008 OPS).

If those numbers continue, the skipper will have to be very judicious in how to use him, and perhaps it is so difficult to use him in the correct spots, that it is not worth having a roster spot.

And for those wondering if Shane Bieber earned the Opening Day gig over Mike Clevinger, how was six scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts? It would be tough to beat that, no?

Yes, it was against Kansas City, but the Royals have some good hitters. Merrifield is a machine at the plate, and Jorge Soler did lead the AL in homers a year ago. Salvy Perez is a solid bat and Mondesi is a player to keep an eye on.

The best thing about baseball is they play again today, then tomorrow, etc. It’s the best reality show around in our opinion.

We wonder what the television ratings, usually high for the Indians, will be this season.

Can Someone Step Up In Tribe Bullpen?

Coming into spring training everyone was excited to see the new power arms in the Cleveland Indians’ bullpen.

James Karinchak struck out everyone in the minor leagues, and then came up in September to whiff eight hitters in 5-2/3 big league innings. Then, they added Emmanuel Clase from Texas in the Corey Kluber deal, and he comes to Cleveland with a 100 MPH cutter.

Certainly, they would combine with Brad Hand to give the Tribe a formidable back end of the bullpen, allowing Terry Francona to shorten games.

Things always look good on paper, though.

Now, Clase is out for 8-12 weeks with an upper back muscle pull, so there is an opening on the roster to come north with the team on March 26th.

Right now, these pitchers would seem to have a roster spot locked up: Hand, Karinchak, Nick Wittgren, and Oliver Perez.

We would include Adam Cimber, but he’s on the shelf right now too.

With Francona usually wanting eight relievers, that would leave four spots open in the bullpen.

The concern right now is the performance of some of what folks considered the leading candidates to fill those spots.

Hunter Wood has spent parts of the last three years in the big leagues, and has been a decent performer out of the ‘pen. He’s allowed six earned runs in an inning and a third in two appearances with two walks.

Dominic Leone is a reliever brought in over the winter with major league experience and he has pitched three times in Arizona, and been knocked around each time.

James Hoyt received some high leverage appearances in September last season, so you would think he’s got an inside track to open the season in Cleveland, but he needs to start getting people out. He’s allowed seven hits and four runs in 3-1/3 frames.

The most effective of the veterans is a guy we mentioned in a piece a week ago. Phil Maton has allowed just one run in five outings.

Does this open up the competition? Yesterday, Jefry Rodriguez, thought to be a starter, was used in relief vs. the Angels. He pitched a solid first inning, but got cuffed around in his second inning of work. He hasn’t been particularly effective either, allowing eight runs in 4-1/3 innings.

Although it is early, we are sure that Francona, Carl Willis, and new bullpen coach Brian Sweeney wouldn’t mind seeing people getting hitters out.

Does this open the door for some non-roster invitees to claim a spot? We understand it’s not the usual way the Indians do business, but on the other hand, they really can’t afford a bad start to the 2020 season.

For example, Kyle Nelson could provide a third lefty out of the bullpen. The 23-year-old southpaw struck out 69 hitters in 47-1/3 innings in the minors a year ago, including 16 in 12 AAA frames. He’s made just one appearance in a major league game this spring though.

We have seen more of 25-year-old Cam Hill though. Hill had a 4.74 ERA at Columbus last season, fanning 36 hitters in 24 innings. He’s made three appearances this spring, allowing just one run.

This is a season to check out exhibition box scores, to see what relievers are pitching early in games, when the regulars are still playing, and if any new names are appearing. If you see that, it could mean the staff is searching for some answers, should the veterans continue to struggle.

Is Winning Exposing Tribe Bullpen A Bit?

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.