Mitch Talbot’s Time May Be Running Out After Poor Performance Against Blue Jays

After a magical win on Thursday, the Indians lost last night’s game 11-7 to the Jays. The offense had a great game, with 7 runs on 15 hits, but Mitch Talbot had another poor outing.

Mitch Talbot only went 4 innings during his last outing in Cincinnati, and allowed 6 runs on 10 hits. He did not do any better last night. He only last 5 1/3 innings and gave up 8 runs on 11 hits.

Talbot has not been the same since he got injured early in the year. He is currently 2-6 on the year, and has not recorded a win since May 31st against the Blue Jays. He has also allowed at least 3 earned runs in each of his last five starts. His ERA is currently 6.33, which is not normally seen by pitchers in a major league rotation.

Talbot’s main problem has been hitting his locations. For example, Lou Marson will set up on the outside corner of the plate, and Talbot will throw the pitch right down the middle of the plate. This is something that he has struggled with all year, and it must be fixed very soon. The Indians have too much talent in the minors to be letting Talbot go out there and continue to pitch like he has been pitching.

Players like David Huff, Jeanmar Gomez, and Zach McAllister are ready to be called up to the rotation. (It is too early to close the book on McAllister, even though he had a short outing on Thursday).

The player most likely to take Talbot’s spot in the rotation is Alex White. White was doing great until he got hurt on May 20th. He is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA this season. He is starting to throw again, and should be back in August. He is too good of a pitcher to keep in AAA, so he would likely be recalled to the major league club in Cleveland to replace Talbot.

The other pitcher who could be replaced is Fausto Carmona. The only difference between Talbot and Carmona is that Manny Acta always says that Carmona is a pitcher with good stuff, who just needs to be given enough time. He is not this high on Talbot, and with a pitcher like Alex White on the roster, it is hard to keep putting Talbot on the mound.

For the Indians to continue to push for the playoffs, they will need the best out of their pitching staff. The big three of Tomlin,Carrasco, and Masterson have been phenomenal this season, and White did well in the time that he was on the mound. They will need to find one more pitcher, maybe Carmona, who can make the entire rotation one to be feared around the league.