Cleveland Indians: Mike Clevinger remains a dynamic pitcher in 2018

The Cleveland Indians have a surplus of talent when it comes to pitchers, and Mike Clevinger figures to play a dynamic role once again in 2018.

There are probably a lot of Cleveland Indians fans out there who wish they could be as cool as Mike Clevinger.

Clevinger presents a fun and carefree self on social media, but more importantly he serves as a key pitcher on the staff, whether that be in the bullpen or the starting rotation.

The right-hander made 27 appearances in 2017, with 21 of those being starts. He is still battling for a spot in the 2018 rotation, but made it clear he wants to be a starter once again.

Clevinger had the best season of his young career last year, logging 121.2 innings with a 3.11 ERA. He struck out 137 batters and only walked 60. He did transition to the bullpen at the end of the season, but it was not because of poor performance.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season
• The Cleveland Guardians offense is suddenly inept

The competition for the final two spots in the rotation is interesting because it seems like including Clevinger is a no-brainer.

However, Terry Francona is loyal to his veteran players and may want to give a player like Josh Tomlin a shot over Clevinger, even when it isn’t the best choice on paper.

There is also the fact Tomlin had his option picked up and Danny Salazar is a top pitcher in the league when healthy, adding intrigue to the competition.

Even with all of this, Clevinger should be in the starting rotation.

But if the team decides to have him start the year in the bullpen, he will be the first choice to return to the rotation if anyone struggles or gets hurt.

There is still a bit of the unknown with Clevinger, who only has one full year of starting experience. And that “full” year only included 121.2 innings. But when comparing him to Salazar and Tomlin, Clevinger is at least the second-best among the group, behind a healthy Salazar.

There is still the possibility the team swings a trade during this slow offseason, so perhaps a player like Tomlin could be moved, although I’d doubt that would happen given his experience with this team. There is also nothing wrong with have a surplus of talent in the pitching staff.

Next: Predicting the cost of a Lindor extension

Clevinger doesn’t know what his role will be just yet, but based on his 2017 performance we should continue to see great things from the rising star in 2018.