Cleveland Indians: Is a “Bullpen Day” the Right Move for the Tribe?

The Cleveland Indians will skip Josh Tomlin in the starting rotation on Monday, opting to mix and match with a “bullpen day.”

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona announced prior to Sunday’s dramatic 6-5 win over the Miami Marlins that the team would be starting rookie Mike Clevinger on Monday in game one of a four-game series against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field. The move means that Josh Tomlin is having his regular turn in the rotation skipped.

Francona commented that Clevinger would not be “stretched out,” though, meaning that he will not have a typical starter’s workload, and that it will be treated as a “bullpen day” with multiple arms mixed and matched, according to 92.3 The Fan’s T.J. Zuppe.

The move seems a bit curious, however, given that the Labor Day game with Houston is just the fourth of 17 straight days in which the Indians will play. The next off day for the club comes on September 19th, and it’s safe to assume the bullpen will have a vital role to play during this stretch.

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To put the entire game’s workload on the bullpen with so many games still to be played consecutively is unnecessary. Why wouldn’t Cleveland just call up a starter from the minor leagues?

Regardless of whether or not this is the right decision by Francona, it has become abundantly clear over the past month that Tomlin has lost the edge with which he pitched in the first half of the season. Since the all-star break, the 31-year old right-hander has compiled a 7.80 earned run average in nine starts covering 47.1 innings. Tomlin has allowed opposing hitters a .317/.349/.580 slash line with a 148 OPS+, and has yielded 14 home runs in that span.

Clevinger has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus a month ago, appearing in six games. In 11.1 innings of relief, the 25-year old righty has been a weapon for the Tribe, limiting opponents to a .190/.277/.262 slash line and OPS+ of 52, averaging 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

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This is September and every game for the rest of the regular season will be meaningful to the Indians’ playoff chase. While Tomlin should certainly not be taking the mound to start, one must wonder if the extra stress that will be put on the relief corps with a “bullpen day” against the Astros will come back to bite Francona and the Tribe.