Cleveland Indians: Breaking down the Tribe’s Opening Day roster

Starting Rotation

Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Logan Allen, Triston McKenzie

In the eyes of many, these five players will be the core of the Cleveland Indians during the 2021 season. If this group performs to their potential, then the scope of the season will be in good light. That starts at the top with returning American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. Bieber lit up the league last year with a record-setting 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings as well as the pitching Triple Crown.

While we know what to expect from Bieber, the rest of the rotation isn’t as much of a sure thing. Zach Plesac is the next best pitcher of the group and showed strong improvement during the 2020 season. With a 2.28 ERA and 9.3 strikeouts per nine last year, there’s a lot to like about Plesac on the mound.

Aaron Civale is where things could start getting dicey. We’ve witnessed two different forms of Civale. One was rather dominant and on the same track as Bieber and Plesac. The other struggled. As stated in our series preview, Civale is a contact pitcher that relies on fielding, which could show some more weaknesses this year than it did in the past. If Civale can return to his early season form from last year, he should be just fine.

That brings us to the mysteries of the rotation, beginning with Logan Allen. For starters, it’s been a long time since the Tribe had a left-handed starting pitcher. He’s been on the path to the majors since arriving to the organization as part of the Trevor Bauer trade in 2019. Allen impressed in Goodyear with a 0.64 ERA over 14 innings while striking out 18 batters. If he can click from the start, that will go a long way in keeping this rotation at the top of the league.

The final piece to the rotation is the No. 2 prospect in the organization, Triston McKenzie. McKenzie pitched well in his limited time in 2020, so if those numbers can carry over the rotation in Cleveland will be solid once again.