Cleveland Indians: Carl Willis back for another stint as pitching coach

The Cleveland Indians decided to bring back Carl Willis for another stint as the pitching coach to replace Mickey Callaway.

The Cleveland Indians had options when it came to hiring a new pitching coach.

The job should be an easy one to hire for, as the pitching staff remains among the best in baseball.

A decision was finally made this morning as Carl Willis will be returning to the same post he held from 2003-2009.

Willis spent most of the past three seasons with the Boston Red Sox in the same role, and stood out as one of the most qualified options available. The history with the organization was likely a factor as well.

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Willis worked with a lot of talent in Boston so it will be interesting to see how he does here with the Indians.

Fans are wondering if Mickey Callaway was truly the difference-maker, or whether players like Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and others just finally reached their true potential with him as the coach.

The answer is likely somewhere in the middle. Even if Callaway had a major impact on the staff, Willis is still no slouch.

He helped CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona reach new heights back under the tenure of Eric Wedge. Remember those days?

Willis also oversaw a Cy Young season from Rick Porcello in 2016, while overseeing the dominant year from Chris Sale in 2017. Anyone who argues that any coach could get success from Sale must realize the same can be said for a coach and Kluber.

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Fans shouldn’t expect any major decline in production from the pitching staff in 2018. Willis is an accomplished coach and most importantly, the staff is talented. As long as everyone stays healthy, the change from Callaway to Willis shouldn’t involve too many headlines.