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

Bullpen

James Karinchak, Nick Wittgren, Emmanuel Clase, Phil Maton, Oliver Perez, Cal Quantrill, Bryan Shaw, Trevor Stephan

The Cleveland Indians will enter the 2021 season without a named closer for the first time in a long time, expecting to use a closer-by-committee approach at the start. With a few different guys that could be in the mix with James Karinchak, Nick Wittgren and Emmanuel Clase there’s a chance a true closer will emerge down the road.

Another interesting point to this bullpen is that there is only one left-handed pitcher, being the veteran Oliver Perez. With Logan Allen being the lone left-handed starter, that leaves the Tribe with just two lefties on the roster to begin the season. Roster moves could change that eventually, but at the start that will be something to watch.

The Cleveland Indians also parted ways with Adam Plutko, essentially handing his role over to Cal Quantrill. Quantrill came up through the minors as a starting pitcher, so he can be a spot starter for the Tribe if need be and will most likely be the long-reliever out of the pen.

Trevor Stephan also makes the roster after being the Rule 5 Draft selection by the Indians. He pitched 10.1 innings in Spring Training with a 3.48 ERA and 16 strikeouts.

As a unit, this group looks above average. There’s still some questions in terms of roles and consistency, but once players start to settle in we should see the bullpen we’re accustomed to in Cleveland.