Cleveland Indians: Final player grades for the 2019 season

Adam Cimber: B

The sidewinder led the staff in appearances and also led the bullpen in terms of earned runs allowed. While some piled on Cimber and hated his every pitch, he only allowed six home runs. That is far fewer than what some fans may have guessed. A few implosions are what fans always remember about a reliever. The truth is that Cimber just wasn’t that bad.

Oliver Perez: B-

Perez made his return and appeared in 67 games, being nailed with the loss for four of those games. The difference is that while his appearances were near Cimber’s, he only pitched in 40.2 innings. He was a reliable arm for Francona but did allow one earned run in every other inning of work.

Brad Hand: B+

Hand’s success in 2019 depends on how one values the save stat. He did record 34 saves, but had five blown saves and four losses to his name. A June 25 outing in which he allowed five earned runs against the lowly Royals skewed his numbers and likely left a bad taste in fans’ mouths. That was his only terrible outing of the season, which is going to happen.

Nick Wittgren: A

The right-hander came over from Miami and logged new career highs in innings pitched, strikeouts, appearances, and WAR. He is also very intimidating and looks cooler than most individuals on this planet.

Tyler Clippard: A

The veteran logged the most innings of any reliever and was mostly reliable all year. He didn’t have a single loss charged to him and only allowed more than two runs in one appearance. The Indians went on to win that game anyway.

Nick Goody: B-

Another reliever who did good but not great in 2019. Goody had limited action, only 39 games, and logged 40.2 innings.

Tyler Olson: B

His last appearance came on August 1 as he was out battling shingles the remainder of the season. That sounds terrible. He was doing well up until that final outing when he gave up three runs. Aside from that he had only allowed a total of 12 earned runs all year.

Dan Otero: Incomplete

The veteran only appeared in 25 games because of injuries. The team not picking up his small option means his time in Cleveland is officially over.

A.J. Cole: C+

25 appearances, 26 innings, 11 earned runs. Nothing for Indians fans to get excited about, but still a decent year for the reliever.