Cleveland Indians: Is Jeff Manship Ready to Take the Next Step?

Manship may have made the right move just as his time was running out

The Cleveland Indians were shuffling the bullpen–a lot. Many of the pieces that were supposed to be key cogs for the Tribe weren’t getting the job done. On June 18, the Indians turned to journeyman reliever Jeff Manship. A Notre Dame graduate and already a member of three teams in his six years, not much was expected. Maybe he simply snuck up on the Indians..and then everyone else in the American League.

Manship hadn’t been able to show the Minnesota Twins–who drafted him in 2006–what his potential was. He then headed to Colorado, because that’s where you go as a pitcher when you’re struggling and trying to get things right, right? That stop resulted in a 0-5 record with a 7.06 ERA in just 11 appearances, four of those starts. Colorado had seen enough of Manship, and in all honesty he had likely seen enough of Colorado.

2014 saw him stop in Philadelphia, strictly as a reliever–but with similar results. A 6.65 ERA in 23 innings, and things were beginning to look bleak for Manship and his career. The Indians invited him to Spring Training, and although it seemed like nothing more than an extra arm on hand, it may have been one of the Indians best moves of the season.

In 39 1/3 innings, Manship allowed just four runs. Four. His 0.92 ERA was the lowest in baseball, and a team record for a pitcher with at least 30 appearances. So six seasons of mediocrity, one of brilliance. Has Manship finally figured it out, or was this a one-and-done season? That can be debated.

Had Manship not admitted to changing anything, I’d be hard pressed to believe this was anything more than a flash in the pan. But on the advice of Skip Johnson, the University of Texas pitching coach, he moved from the first base side of the pitching rubber to the third base side. Sounds simple, but it appears to have worked like a charm.

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Manship has gained some velocity on his fastball and has gone to more sliders while abandoning his changeup. Those tweaks led to 33 strikeouts and just 10 walks. He held right-handed hitters to a .103 average while lefties still only hit .235.

It looks as if Manship will be penciled into the bullpen rotation next season, and could see a more important role depending on how things shake out. Nothing liking making the most of a lateral move, a 20-inch lateral move.

Next: House: Starter or simply organizational depth?