News Regarding Two Key Cleveland Indians Starting Pitchers
Friday, the Cleveland Indians announced that they had activated starting pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac. Furthermore, after activating both the team made the decision to option them down to their alternative training site in Lake County. Mandy Bell of MLB.com had the news first on Twitter.
The Indians have activated Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac from the restricted list and optioned them both to the alternate training site in Lake County.
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) August 14, 2020
If you recall, Zach Plesac went out on the town Saturday night. He was later punished by the team on Sunday the same day it was found that Mike Clevinger joined his group. As a result, the organization required both to quarantine for 72 hours and then undergo testing away from the team.
Clevinger ended up missing his start on Tuesday and the good news is the team isn’t in need of a fifth starter for a few weeks. In addition, it remains unknown how long Plesac and Clevinger will stay in Lake County.
Zach Plesac Instagram Video Sparks Controversy
Thursday, Zach Plesac released a video on his personal Instagram account. The video basically blasted the media and put a negative spin on the personal decisions the starter had made. Friday, Mandy Bell provided a response to the video from Terry Francona on Twitter.
Terry Francona on Zach Plesac's Instagram video: "I was disappointed."
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) August 14, 2020
One thing that’s important to remember is that players have the right to express their opinion at anytime. However, typically things like this end up having a negative outcome. It’s too early to tell what lingering effects could come from this, but there’s a chance it could be bad.
Following the news about Plesac and Clevinger, a few Indians teammates spoke out about what had happened. Adam Plutko was very clear that he was disappointed in their decisions. Zack Meisel of The Athletic provided Plutko’s opinion on Twitter.
Adam Plutko with some strong words on how Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac can earn back their teammates' trust: pic.twitter.com/KaiPo4gz9D
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) August 12, 2020
Shortstop Francisco Lindor was also displeased. Essentially, Lindor stated that “this is a time to be selfless.” More on what Lindor said and his reaction here.
With disappointment like that steaming throughout the Indians clubhouse, some players might have lost some trust based on this week’s events. For a team that is looking to win the American League Central, that could potentially be a massive obstacle. Only time will tell what lingering effects could come from this.
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