{"id":35346,"date":"2020-07-27T10:41:38","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T14:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=35346"},"modified":"2020-07-27T10:41:38","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T14:41:38","slug":"indians-starting-pitching-once-again-a-hallmark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/07\/27\/indians-starting-pitching-once-again-a-hallmark\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribe Takeaway: Starting Pitching Once Again a Hallmark"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Starting Pitching Reigns Supreme for the Indians<\/h1>\n<p>With the first series of the season under their belt, the biggest takeaway is that starting pitching is once again the strong fold of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/cleveland-indians\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cleveland Indians<\/a>.\u00a0Zack Meisel who covers the Indians for The Athletic provided more context on the success of Cleveland&#8217;s starters, on Twitter.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Cleveland&#39;s starting pitchers, through three games:<\/p>\n<p>19 innings, 13 H allowed, 2 BB, 30 K, 1.89 ERA<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZackMeisel\/status\/1287473992429961217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 26, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/biebesh01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Shane Bieber<\/strong><\/a> kicked off the series Friday with a 14-strikeout game. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clevimi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Mike Clevinger<\/strong> <\/a>followed Saturday by throwing 90 pitches &#8211; 60 of which were strikes. To conclude the series, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/carraca01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Carlos Carrasco<\/strong><\/a> recorded five strikeouts Sunday with his slider which was his most effective pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Going into this season, the Indians starting rotation depth was the strongest quality of the team. Even after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/2019\/07\/30\/trevor-bauer-traded-cincinnati-reds\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trading<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bauertr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Trevor Bauer<\/strong><\/a> to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/cincinnati-reds\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cincinnati Reds<\/a> last July and losing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/klubeco01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Corey Kluber<\/strong><\/a> this past offseason in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/2019\/12\/15\/texas-rangers-acquire-rhp-corey-kluber-from-the-cleveland-indians\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trade<\/a> with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/texas-rangers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Texas Rangers<\/a>, Cleveland still has a talented group of starting pitchers on its big league <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/indians\/roster\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">roster<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Shane Bieber Kicks Things Off<\/h2>\n<p>Indians ace and American League <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngcy01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Cy Young<\/strong><\/a> candidate <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/shane-bieber-669456?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shane Bieber<\/a> had his four-seamer and knuckle curveball working in <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/gamefeed?game_pk=631563&amp;game_date=2020-07-24&amp;type=home_pitchers&amp;chart_view=pitch&amp;chart_type=pitch_name&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;batter_hand=&amp;pitcher_hand=&amp;filter=&amp;player=home-pitchers_543272&amp;view=Umpire&amp;coloring=Pitch%20Type\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Friday&#8217;s<\/a> game. Bieber had 14 called strikes with his four-seamer while recording 13 swinging strikes with his knuckle curve. Bieber averaged 93.6 miles per hour (MPH) on his four-seamer. Meanwhile, his knuckle curve had an average velocity of 82.6 MPH.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the game, the Royals hitters had a hard time picking up on the depth of his four-seamer and Bieber effectively worked it around the strike zone. It was a big reason why the Indians were able to shut out the Royals.<\/p>\n<p>According to Baseball Savant, Bieber accumulated a groundball rate of 28.6% through his first start. Furthermore, the right-hander amassed a first-pitch swing percentage of 65.2% and a 47.7% whiff rate. More specifically, with the knuckle curve, Bieber held Royals hitters to a .125 batting average and slugging percentage.<\/p>\n<h2>Mike Clevinger Provides the Sunshine<\/h2>\n<p>Following the brilliance of Shane Bieber, <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/mike-clevinger-605182?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Clevinger<\/a> kept things going for the Indians Saturday. Right now, it&#8217;s fair to say that it&#8217;s hard to top the Indians 1-2 punch of Bieber and Clevinger. In fact, with the way the starting rotation performed this series, the Indians clearly have the best group of starters in the American League Central.<\/p>\n<p>Last season, Clevinger started to turn the corner because he began relying on his slider a lot more. In 2018, the right-hander threw his slider 21.1% of the time. Last year, Clevinger relied on that pitch 25.5%.<\/p>\n<p>During Saturday&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/gamefeed?game_pk=631565&amp;game_date=2020-07-25&amp;type=home_pitchers&amp;chart_view=pitch&amp;chart_type=pitch_name&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;batter_hand=&amp;pitcher_hand=&amp;filter=&amp;player=home-pitchers_605182&amp;view=Umpire&amp;coloring=Pitch%20Type\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">start<\/a>, Clevinger induced seven swinging strikes against the Royals offense. Furthermore, he went the distance pitching seven innings, while allowing four hits and two earned runs along with six strikeouts on 90 pitches.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Baseball Savant heat <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/gamefeed?game_pk=631565&amp;game_date=2020-07-25&amp;type=home_pitchers&amp;chart_view=heatmap&amp;chart_type=call_name&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;batter_hand=&amp;pitcher_hand=&amp;filter=&amp;player=home-pitchers_605182&amp;view=Umpire&amp;coloring=Pitch%20Type\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">map<\/a>, the most contact for Clevinger came in the middle of the strike zone. In addition, Royals hitters made some contact below the strike zone, right above the middle of home plate.<\/p>\n<h2>Carlos Carrasco Continues the Effectiveness<\/h2>\n<p>Although the Indians notched their first series win of the season on Sunday, the biggest storyline was that right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/carlos-carrasco-471911\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Carrasco<\/a> made his 2020 season debut. Carrasco being healthy and back in action is a significant boost for Cleveland.<\/p>\n<p>Carrasco had all five of his pitches working <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/gamefeed?game_pk=631566&amp;game_date=2020-07-26&amp;type=home_pitchers&amp;chart_view=pitch&amp;chart_type=pitch_name&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;batter_hand=&amp;pitcher_hand=&amp;filter=&amp;player=home-pitchers_424144&amp;view=Umpire&amp;coloring=Pitch%20Type\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sunday<\/a>. He threw 29 sliders, 26 four-seamers, 20 changeups, eight curveballs, and four sinkers in the series finale. In total, Carrasco had an average velocity of 88.2 MPH on all of his pitches. Furthermore, Royals hitters averaged a 91.1 MPH exit velocity on those pitches.<\/p>\n<p>Based on <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/gamefeed?game_pk=631566&amp;game_date=2020-07-26&amp;type=home_pitchers&amp;chart_view=zone&amp;chart_type=call_name&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;batter_hand=&amp;pitcher_hand=&amp;filter=&amp;player=home-pitchers_424144&amp;view=Umpire&amp;coloring=Pitch%20Type\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data<\/a> from Baseball Savant, 35 of the 87 pitches that Carrasco threw were focused in the lower right-hand corner of home plate, outside of the strike zone. As has always been the case, he prefers working outside the strike zone itself. 56 of his pitches were based in those four quadrant areas.<\/p>\n<h2>The Rest of the Starting Rotation\/Looking Ahead<\/h2>\n<p>As mentioned before, the Indians strength is their starting rotation. The team is fortunate to have at least six effective starting pitchers on their current big league roster. Next up 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> who starts Monday against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/chicago-white-sox\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chicago White Sox<\/a>. After that, the rotation turns to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/plesaza01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Zach Plesac<\/strong><\/a> who was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/2020\/07\/21\/cleveland-indians-news-bites-july-21st\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">named<\/a> the fifth member of the rotation last week.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/plutkad01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Adam Plutko<\/strong><\/a> is yet another pitcher capable of being in the rotation. When Cleveland named Plesac as it&#8217;s number five starter, that pushed Plutko to the bullpen. Additionally, the Indians have both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rodrije01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jefry Rodriguez<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allenlo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Logan Allen<\/strong><\/a> on their 40-man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/indians\/roster\/40-man\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">roster<\/a>. Both Rodriguez and Allen are capable of starting for the Indians if needed.<\/p>\n<p>Rodriguez pitched in 10 games for the team last year with eight of those appearances being as a starter. Over that span, he posted a 4.63 ERA with a 6.4 K\/9 rate and a 1.479 WHIP.<\/p>\n<p>After coming over to the Indians from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/san-diego-padres\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Diego Padres<\/a>, Allen was used exclusively as a reliever. However, with the Padres he made four starts in the eight games that he pitched with the big league club. The results were pretty sub-par though as Allen posted a 6.98 ERA over 19 1\/3 innings as a starter. In that sample, he had an Opponent Batting Average Against (OBAA) of .329.<\/p>\n<p>Further down on the depth chart as another option is right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=mckenz000tri\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Triston McKenzie<\/strong><\/a>. McKenzie is currently the team&#8217;s number nine overall <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/prospects\/indians\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prospect<\/a>. While he could start towards the end of this season, next year is more likely for the 22-year old.<\/p>\n<p>Main Image<br \/>\n<a id=\"xt5vYBMXShtMXq3Jj95d9w\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1258074719\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'xt5vYBMXShtMXq3Jj95d9w',sig:'0YAGpQesC5MiKRyIjdUAcUGEbYGvOAncCJyhLTz577U=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1258074719',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Starting Pitching Reigns Supreme for the Indians With the first series of the season under their belt, the biggest takeaway is that starting pitching is once again the strong fold of the Cleveland Indians.\u00a0Zack Meisel who covers the Indians for The Athletic provided more context on the success of Cleveland&#8217;s starters, on Twitter. Cleveland&#39;s starting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3320,"featured_media":35415,"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],"tags":[3948,1562,352,664,69,2094,3452,3415],"class_list":["post-35346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guardians","category-mlb","tag-adam-plutko","tag-carlos-carrasco","tag-cleveland-indians","tag-mike-clevinger","tag-mlb","tag-shane-bieber","tag-triston-mckenzie","tag-zach-plesac"],"modified_by":"Jared Cantatore","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35346","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=35346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}