Threat Level: Cavs ’ Potential First Round Foes
March 26, 2015Jose Ramirez’s car plays a little shortstop
March 26, 2015As Palm Sunday is nearly upon us, the battle for the fourth and fifth starting positions in the Cleveland Indians pitching rotation has almost completed. So, before the announcement becomes official, let us take a look at how the pitchers have done this spring.
The statistics from Spring Training are not a true measuring stick for players as they can come against opposing players of all different pedigrees in extremely small sample sizes. Some of the statistics come in B games, and there are many simulated games from which we do not see nor record the statistics. Add in that the Indians training staff is working closely to see how the pitchers are stretching out their arms for the long season, and it is easily seen that there are a bunch of factors that play into who will make the rotation. However, Spring Training statistics are not completely meaningless either1 . So, it is important to at least note how the players have done so that we can track them through the beginning of the season.
Here are the three starters who had their spot in the rotation locked up before we entered Spring Training along with all of the other pitchers fighting for those final two positions.
Name | IP | ERA | WHIP | SO | BB | HR |
Corey Kluber | 12.2 | 4.26 | 0.95 | 11 | 3 | 4 |
Carlos Carrasco | 6.2 | 2.70 | 1.50 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Trevor Bauer | 15.1 | 5.87 | 1.50 | 11 | 0 | 5 |
TJ House | 17.2 | 5.60 | 1.30 | 15 | 3 | 2 |
Danny Salazar | 7.2 | 4.70 | 1.70 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
Zach McAllister | 14.0 | 3.21 | 1.29 | 15 | 4 | 1 |
Josh Tomlin | 8.0 | 4.50 | 1.75 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
Shaun Marcum | 7.0 | 1.29 | 0.86 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Bruce Chen | 9.0 | 5.00 | 1.33 | 7 | 2 | 3 |
The past few seasons, the Indians have focused on developing a staff that obtains high strikeouts per inning and also one that has a good ratio between walks and strikeouts. Both of those qualities can be seen in most of the pitchers this spring. The most obvious outliers from this edict are Shaun Marcum having a lack of strikeouts, and Danny Salazar (who is pitching Thursday against the Reds) having a poor ratio due to a high walk total2 . The other noteworthy item from the entire staff’s statistics is the high number of homeruns allowed. Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer have allowed nine homeruns in under 30 innings pitched between them. Danny Salazar has allowed just under a homerun for every other inning he has pitched.
Despite support from WFNY, Shaun Marcum will not get to open the season in the rotation for the Indians. Bruce Chen has also been told that he is not in the team’s initial plans. The Indians are hopeful that they remain with the team should we need them, but the Indians will also not hold them back should other MLB opportunities arise. Francona had the following to say about the two pitchers (along with Scott Downs):
“Chris was pretty open and honest with them about, if there’s opportunities for them, never holding them back. But, we weren’t telling them that they couldn’t [continue to] pitch [this spring with Cleveland], because actually, they’ve all three done really well. It’s just, right now, we have guys ahead of them.”
That news means that there are four pitchers (House, McAllister, Salazar, Tomlin) left to battle for the remaining two spots in the rotation. TJ House looked like he had locked up one of the starting rotation jobs early, but has struggled with allowing a big inning in each of his last two starts. In those starts, he has allowed eight earned runs in eight innings of work. To his credit, he is taking the correct approach about it and remains the most likely pitcher to take the fourth rotation position. TJ House said:
“[My spring has been] great except for a couple innings just kind of eating me up a little bit. Besides that, I’ve got some good work and I think we’re just moving forward and going in the right direction.”
Zach McAllister has had a mirror image to TJ House’s spring where he has continued to look better after a slow start. So, after most assumed that McAllister would begin the season in the bullpen, he now is making his case to be in the rotation. Francona began the spring saying “I think I’m more excited just to have Zach pitching healthy, because we saw what he can do. He can do that whether he’s starting or relieving. It’s kind of the same thing with [Carlos] Carrasco. If you pitch like that, it doesn’t really matter where you’re pitching.” But, after McAllister’s start on Monday against the Oakland Athletics, Francona had the following:
“He threw his fastball down and, off it, threw some good splits. A couple good breaking balls. … To his credit, he comes ready. He works so hard that he comes out of the chute throwing pretty hard and it’s not like he’s overthrowing. He just prepares so well.”
However, despite his slow start, Danny Salazar still remains the favorite to land the last rotation slot. Francona knows that Danny Salazar tends to be a slow starter as he recently said “ He’s still young and he has so few innings compared to everybody else. … He’s had a habit of, by the end of the first half he’s ready to go. Even in his Minor League seasons, it took him a while to kind of ramp up into the season. When you’re in Double-A, that’s not the end of the world, but when you’re pitching with us, those are costing you wins.”
Not to be forgotten, the Little Cowboy, Josh Tomlin, came back from some shoulder soreness to post a typical Josh Tomlin game3 . Francona seems to know just who Josh Tomlin is as a pitcher as he noted “It was kind of typical Josh,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He gave up some hits, but he hangs in there and he doesn’t beat himself. Even though he gave up [nine] hits, there’s only two runs. He’s throwing strikes.”
The Cleveland Indians should announce soon who will be in the initial MLB rotation for the team, but it is good seeing that they also possess the depth as most MLB rotations end up needing far more than the five men initially slated for the roles on Opening Day.
5 Comments
House and Salazar all day baby. McA to the pen. Tomlin down to AAA and readying for spot starts or injuries (or for trade bait). Time for Dannyboy to show up.
Also, forgot it was Palm Sunday coming up. Man it is spring already. Maybe the Tribe should do something to honor the palmball. Satchel Paige patches and every pitcher made to toss a palm change or two. #baseballisntbrokenbutneedsimprovement
I’ll bet Bauer is working on it already.
I would much rather see McAllister in the rotation to begin the year. McAllister got shafted a bit last year by being sent down before the Indians started to pay attention to defense, and his stats show it. He had a really high BABIP (.332), Consider that among all the starters last year, he had the third best FIP on the team (only behind Carrasco and Kluber). That’s why Fangraphs has him contributing 1.3 WAR last year, tied for 4th best among pitchers.
I would put him in above House, honestly. But I’d put both above Salazar when Salazar is looking as inconsistent as ever.
i agree, though salazar tends to have 2 infuriating starts for every 1 dominant one. he’s been getting battered so far today as well – 2 more homers in 3 innings.
I don’t even want to update the table for Danny’s start today. It feels too mean. But, with Zach looking more and more comfortable on the mound and Danny doing his usual early season routine, McAllister at least has a solid argument.