{"id":28971,"date":"2020-02-15T14:42:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T19:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=28971"},"modified":"2020-02-15T14:42:10","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T19:42:10","slug":"cleveland-indians-lose-ace-mike-clevinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/02\/15\/cleveland-indians-lose-ace-mike-clevinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Indians Lose Ace Mike Clevinger"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Mike Clevinger Heads to the Injured List<\/h1>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/cleveland-indians\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cleveland Indians<\/a> were dealt a big blow to their starting rotation yesterday. The team officially announced that starting pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clevimi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Mike Clevinger<\/strong> <\/a>was going to undergo surgery for a partial tear of the meniscus in his left knee.<\/p>\n<p>After the surgery, it was announced that Clevinger would be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. Granted, that is a rough estimation and doesn&#8217;t account for any potential roadblocks that Clevinger faces during the recovery process. The news regarding the time table was first confirmed by Zack Meisel of The Athletic on Twitter.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mike Clevinger is expected to return to major league game activity in 6-8 weeks following today\u2019s knee surgery<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZackMeisel\/status\/1228484748860780544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 15, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Big Loss for the Cleveland Indians Starting Rotation<\/h2>\n<p>Mike Clevinger is a beloved member of the Cleveland Indians <a href=\"http:\/\/m.indians.mlb.com\/roster\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">roster<\/a>, but the loss of him is a big blow to the Indians starting rotation as well. Cleveland had Clevinger penciled in at the top of their rotation to pair with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/biebesh01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Shane Bieber<\/strong><\/a>. Bieber really became a well-known starting pitcher last year.<\/p>\n<p>When you take into account the performance of Clevinger and Bieber from last season, it equals out to be a 3.07 ERA over 360.1 innings of work. In that span, both right-handers combined to record 428 strikeouts. Furthermore, Clevinger and Bieber had an opponent batting average against values of under .230. To say the loss of Clevinger is a big loss is a significant understatement.<\/p>\n<p>For a Cleveland Indians team that is looking to be a threat in the American League Central, they need Mike Clevinger at the top of their starting rotation. Without him, the rotation loses credibility in a sense and loses some of that workhorse mentality that he brought to the mound every fifth day last season.<\/p>\n<h2>Where the Cleveland Indians Turn To Now for Help<\/h2>\n<p>The Cleveland Indians very rarely go outside of the organization for reinforcements when this type of stuff happens. For example, consider last season when the team lost then ace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/klubeco01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Corey Kluber<\/strong><\/a>. Kluber only made seven starts last season and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/2019\/05\/01\/corey-kluber-fractured-forearm\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dealt<\/a> with a right ulna fracture he suffered in early May.<\/p>\n<p>While the loss of Kluber was significant at that time, as it is with Mike Clevinger, the Indians found a way to prevail. Thus, the team found in-house replacements to replace the production left behind by Corey Kluber. That&#8217;s where Mike Clevinger&#8217;s role grew within the starting rotation and Shane Bieber ended up emerging as a frontline starting pitcher.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the Cleveland Indians will continue to hold the mentality that they can overcome this internally as an organization. When you look at the Indians roster and farm system, there are a few potential options to replace Clevinger.<\/p>\n<h2>Potential Replacements in the Rotation<\/h2>\n<p>For starters, the Cleveland Indians should have right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/carraca01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Carlos Carrasco<\/strong><\/a> back at full strength this year. If Carrasco is healthy and pitching like he&#8217;s capable of, then that gives the Indians someone to pair with Bieber at the top. Carrasco dealt with leukemia last season and the many obstacles that it brought about.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, don&#8217;t forget about right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/plesaza01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Zach Plesac<\/strong><\/a> either. Plesac was yet another arm that emerged for the Indians last season. He finished the year to the tune of a 3.81 ERA over 21 starts. Pleasac, who is entering his age 25 season and is the nephew of former big-league pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/plesada01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dan Plesac<\/strong><\/a>, is a very talented starter with a high-ceiling. Therefore, the Indians could probably allow him to make more starts now with Clevinger out of the mix.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond Carrasco and Plesac, yet another option for the Indians is right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/civalaa01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Aaron Civale<\/strong><\/a>. Civale started 10 games in 2019 in which he recorded a 2.34 ERA with an opponent batting average against of .216. Over those 10 starts, Civale had a K\/9 rate of 7.18 and averaged 15 pitches per inning. Civale does a great job of throwing his pitches down and away to create swing and miss stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, another potential option for the Cleveland Indians is 22-year old left-hander, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allenlo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Logan Allen<\/strong><\/a>. Allen was acquired as part of the three-team blockbuster <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/2019\/07\/30\/trevor-bauer-traded-cincinnati-reds\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trade<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/san-diego-padres\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Diego Padres<\/a> last July. That was the trade that included former Indians starting pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bauertr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Trevor Bauer<\/strong><\/a> being dealt away to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/san-diego-padres\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cincinnati Reds<\/a>. Allen is a guy that the Indians are very high on and believe will impact their starting rotation in a big way. The 2020 season may very well be the season where Allen takes that next step forward.<\/p>\n<h2>Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>In the end, the loss of right-hander Mike Clevinger is a big blow for the Cleveland Indians starting rotation. However, as is always the case, the Indians have done a phenomenal job of building up the amount of pitching depth throughout their farm system. Therefore, Cleveland can overcome this injury and find the next breakout star to be a pivotal part of their rotation in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Clevinger Heads to the Injured List The Cleveland Indians were dealt a big blow to their starting rotation yesterday. The team officially announced that starting pitcher Mike Clevinger was going to undergo surgery for a partial tear of the meniscus in his left knee. After the surgery, it was announced that Clevinger would be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3320,"featured_media":28979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1071,35],"tags":[1562,352,941,664,69,2094],"class_list":["post-28971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guardians","category-mlb","category-news","tag-carlos-carrasco","tag-cleveland-indians","tag-latest-mlb-news","tag-mike-clevinger","tag-mlb","tag-shane-bieber"],"modified_by":"Jared Cantatore","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}