Luplow unloads, Bieber = Cy, is Clase the closer? and more from the weekend: Tribe Notebook

It’s hard to write about a team when they aren’t doing well. Nobody wants to sit and slump in the doldrums, most just want to move along and go, which is probably the best thing about baseball: there’s a new game tomorrow and momentum is today’s starting pitcher. Last week saw a no-hitter thrown against the Indians and a back-breaking error caused an end to a winnable game on Saturday as the Tribe lost two of three to the Cincinnati Reds. However, Sunday saw the offense come alive a bit with three home runs and it was a Shane Bieber day, which is always great so let’s recap the week and see what’s ahead.

Hitter of the week: Jordan Luplow

If I told you Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes were tied for the team lead in home runs, you would believe that. It makes sense that the GOAT and La Mole each have four home runs on this early season and are the straws that stir the drink that is the Indians lineup. But what if I told you that Jordan Luplow *also* has four home runs this season *and* leads the team in RBI and OPS? Luplow and his platoon bat have played more than expected so far on the year and he has been making teams pay for it. The fluidity that is the Tribe lineup has had him playing in all three spots in the outfield and spelling Josh Naylor and theoretically Andres Gimenez against tough left-handers. Normally not one to handle right-handers, Luplow has six plate appearances against same-siders as him…and three hits, two of those being homers. Obviously, this is a small sample size, but Luplow is proving himself valuable to this team, in a variety of ways, and that’s important given that they have had issues with offense at times.

Pitcher of the week: Shane Bieber

C’mon was I gonna pick Mr “Can’t Get Out Of The First Inning” Zach Plesac? Bieber has been everything advertised and more. He’s the ace and stopper of the rotation, throwing 17 innings over his two starts this week, recording 24 strikeouts, and allowing only three runs. He’s the first pitcher in the modern era to record 10+ strikeouts in his first four starts of a season and he shows no real signs of slowing down. But his starts are more than just K’s and knuckle curves; in his last two starts, Bieber has gone at least eight innings each and saved what was a taxed bullpen. Keeping your starter in for longer than necessary is not en vogue these days, but when they are pitching as well as Bieber and your bullpen has been used as much as Cleveland’s was Friday and Saturday, knowing you can get through with only using Emmanuel Clase is key. Speaking of Clase…

Clase? More like Clase-r

This week has been a bit of a roller coaster for Clase: from Sunday to Sunday, Clase has recorded three saves, been tagged with one loss off a throwing error by Yu Chang, and blown a save when Josh Naylor decided to “ole” a ball between his legs at first. He has been deployed as the closer for a week now, used after other backend options like James Karinchak and Nick Wittgren, and he has pitched well when called upon. He’s got only a 30.3% strikeout rate, which is low by relievers standards and is behind Karinchak and even Bryan Shaw in his own bullpen, but he’s limiting contact and keeping the ball on the ground when it’s hit: he has the third-best GB% for relievers at 71.4%. Also, I mean…just look at this Savant breakdown. So much red.

You’d think someone with a 101-mph cutter would have a little bit more strikeout ability, but he’s being effective as the non-nomial closer and it should continue given his approach.

What’s next?

Cleveland is off today (Monday) then has a two-game set with the Chicago White Sox before bringing the reeling New York Yankees to town for a four-game series over the weekend. Also of importance, this past Saturday was the expected Super Two deadline, which means teams attempting to do service time management should have been able to do as such and some of the bigger names amongst the minors and alternate training sites could see their chance to get called up to the majors. Most notably would be Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays and Jarred Kelenic of the Seattle Mariners, but it could mean Nolan Jones has seen his time in Columbus coming to an end soon. Cleveland has been aggressive with their prospects this season, allowing Gimenez to start the season with the big club, but seeing Jones before May or even June would be a welcome surprise. To be clear, this is all just wild speculation, but this season being a show-me season for the future of the club has been discussed in length, and knowing whether or not Jones is the stud he has shown is important and getting him the big league plate appearances would be a big step to finding that out.