CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 13: Shane Bieber # 57 of the Cleveland Indians throws a pitch during the … [+]
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High quality pitching has long been the trademark of the Cleveland Indians teams.
Keep in mind that in the recent past Cleveland has relied on a core group of strong, right-handed starting pitchers for consistent excellence. They have set a number of winning team records and postseason games in the American League.
For several years, manager Terry Francona was able to compete with players like Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger and Trevor Bauer. Each of these throwers gave the team a chance to win every time they took the ball. They were among the top 4 top starters in the game. Kluber and Bauer were elected to the American League All Star Team. Club three times.
In one calendar year, the composition of the Indians who started the rotation began to change drastically. It was the beginning of a full reconstruction of the Indians who started pitching.
In 2019, the Indians traded Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds. They traded All Star Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers.
The following year, Mike Clevinger was traded on the San Diego Padres.
Carlos Carrasco held out the longest. It was traded on the New York Mets in 2020 together with the All Star shortstop Francisco Lindor.
The Indians have not lost a season since 2012 when the team record was 68-94. It was the last time they couldn’t cope with a win rate above .500.
In fact, the lowest win rate since this season came with 68 wins in 2015, when the team finished with a record 81-80.
The Indians won the American League Central Division in 2016, 2017 and 2018. They finished second in 2019 and third in the shortened 2020 season.
Cleveland has set winning records without producing an abundance of offensive firepower. But prior to last season, the team batting average has never dropped below 0.250 since the 2010 season when the team hit 0.248. The team had enough runs to support high quality pitching.
Last year, in the 60-game season shortened by the pandemic, the Indians only scored .228. The low team stroke average and the challenged offensive occurred in the first year without Bauer, Clevinger and Kluber on the hill. As it turned out, Carrasco was doing his final year in Indian uniform. He started 12 games. But the Indian landscape had changed.
Enter Shane Bieber:
While the Indians slowly said goodbye to their outstanding starter group, a new all-star artist joined the team’s rotation.
Shane Bieber, a 6-3, 200 pound right-handed player, was a former 4th round draft pick of the University of California at Santa Barbara Indians. He joined the rotation in 2018. Since his arrival, his influence has been enormous.
Bieber finished his rookie year 11-5. He scored a 4.55 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP at the age of 23. That was just the beginning.
Bieber made it to the All Star Team in 2019 and helped his team win the American League game. He was voted Most Valuable Player in the Game. He went on to end the wonderful season with a 15-8 record and a scintillating 3.28 ERA. He threw three full games and two shutouts.
Last year, Bieber won the American League’s Cy Young Award, finishing with a record of 8-1 in his 12 starts. His ERA was a stellar 1.63. He dropped an average of 14.2 hitters per nine innings.
While Bieber isn’t quite as keen this year as last year, he’s still had notable accomplishments with an ankle-bend and solid secondary fields that compliment his much above-average fastball at a speed of 93 mph.
But Bieber cannot carry the current start of the Indians alone.
CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 7: Zach Plesac # 34 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Cincinnati Reds … [+]
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Current Indian rotation:
Faced with a crime that still doesn’t scare the opposition, Bieber’s colleagues in the Rotation of Indians 2021 are sort of a revolving door. The years of stability at Kluber, Carrasco, Clevinger and Bauer are now just a memory.
In addition to Bieber, the Indians were the hopeful right-handers Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and the young, 25-year-old Triston McKenzie should start the season with left-hander Logan Allen as a young, rather inexperienced, but promising change.
A solid starter, Plesac suffered a broken thumb while taking off his game jersey after a bumpy start and is on the list of injured. McKenzie struggled to master his repertoire and was sent to Triple-A Columbus for more seasoning. He was recently returned to rotation due to a strenuous back-to-back game schedule that required a deep starting rotation. He has shown some improvement in his last missions, but can that be sustained? He still has to work to find consistency.
Logan Allen made five season starts. He had set a record of 1-4 with 9.19 ERA and 1.72 WHIP in 15.2 innings. Allen gave in 20 hits and went seven before being sent back to Columbus.
Sam Hentges, a huge, 6-6, 245-pound, 24-year-old left-hander, has made four starts for Cleveland. So far he has shown a promising repertoire, but he is struggling to control his pitches. He has a 7.15 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP as he tries to get along with the world’s best hitters at the big league level. Hentges is in the works.
Due to the Plesac injury and too many games in a row, the Indians were missing a starting place and promoted 25-year-old Elijah Morgan from Columbus on a cold, windy day in Cleveland. In fact, winds were in excess of 80 mph on May 28th as Morgan faced the Toronto Blue Jays. It lasted 2.2 innings and resulted in six runs and eight hits. He went two and gave up a home run. For the young, 25-year-old right-handed man, it was a nightmare scenario.
In search of the right equation, Bieber, Civale, Hentges, McKenzie, and perhaps right-handed Jean Carlos Mejia could form the rotation for the Indians in the coming days.
Mejia is another great right-handed woman. At 6-5, 240 pounds, Mejia is set to make his first major league start on May 4, 2021.
Mejia’s major league debut took place on May 21, 2021 from the bullpen against the Minnesota Twins. He threw 2.1 innings with one-hit relief and hit five without going a hitter. He was excellent.
Mejia, 24, was an international free agent from the Dominican Republic who fielded for Cleveland in the Arizona Rookie League in the United States in 2017.
For this Boy Scout, Mejia could, if the opportunity presents itself, become a significant member of the Indian initial staff.
Conclusions:
Due to the trade in impact starters and a recent serious injury, the Cleveland Indians are dependent on a very young, very inexperienced group of mugs to cobble together a new start rotation.
With an American League Central Division still within reach, the Indians are facing a steep climb to match the emerging Chicago White Sox in the standings.
The White Sox have an excellent starting rotation that includes left-handed Carlos Rodon at the helm. Rodon threw a no-hitter this year and has a career year. He is supported by right-handed Lucas Giolito (no hitter in 2020) as well as right-handed Dylan Cease and the experienced workhorse Lance Lynn and the floorball thrower Dallas Keuchel.
Injury challenged the White Sox to meet offensive stars Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert. But they’ve clearly shown more firepower so far this season than the Cleveland Offensive.
If the Indians are battling for a post-season spot, they will likely need to get more runs by improving offensive production as well as establishing a consistent starting rotation that will give the team a chance to win every game.
Taxing a young bullpen for an ineffective starting line-up could take a toll if the Indian starters don’t dig deep into the games.
Shane Bieber is an all-star quality starter mug. Aaron Civale was mostly good but had some teething problems. Those two aside, Cleveland’s young, inexperienced pitchers will be counted on to learn and grow on the job.
There are promises and benefits in the current starters of the Indians.
In addition to Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac, Triston McKenzie has a world full of talent. But he’s young and relatively untested. Sam Hentges has to learn to throw punches regularly. Jean Carlos Mejia can be a big surprise if he stays calm and in control. And maybe Zach Plesac can return strong and healthy.
For now, Cleveland Indians fans will have to get used to the mounting pains of a new set of starting mugs.
Fans will miss the superb starting line-up that Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger and Trevor Bauer have provided for some amazing seasons. Now the team must search young pitching options to find the next success story to add to All Star Shane Bieber.
