Cleveland Indians: Three things that went wrong in May

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Jordan Luplow #8 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /

Three things that went wrong in May for the Cleveland Indians

The month of May for the Cleveland Indians was an interesting one. The team escaped with a winning record of 17-12 over the course of the month, but the negatives were magnified. Any negative can be dwelled on, but in the case of Cleveland it seemed like the negatives were just reoccurring for the club. No matter what it was, a stat, injuries or anything else, they came in bunches and just added salt to the wound in many cases.

Despite all of that, Cleveland is still just 2.5 games out of first place in the AL Central after grabbing the first game of the month from the Chicago White Sox. The team also holds one of the wild card spots as well. Now, it might be too early in the season to be thinking about the postseason, but recognizing the team’s position helps with the negatives. While present, if they can be corrected or solutions can be found the team could once again be dangerous and have a strong shot at playing in October.

For the negatives from the month of May, some are able to be controlled by the team while others are not. That’s the nature of negatives, they aren’t always within the team’s control. However, how the team responds, adjusts and performs after is well within control. So far, the team has done a decent job in those instances. Where they have struggled are the negatives that are controllable.

There’s going to be some parallels between this list and the checklist for June, but some points will be new as well. The parallels should make sense as the club will want to correct what they can in terms of what when wrong in May. As the season moves into June and we reflect on May, these three things are what went wrong for the Cleveland Indians.

If you’re looking for the positives from May, those three highlights can be found here.

Franmil Reyes #32 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Injury Problems Strike

During the month of May it seemed like every week brought with it a new injury for the Tribe’s roster. While any injury hurts a squad, it was some of the team’s best players as well.

The month began with Roberto Perez heading to the 10-day IL on May 5, later moving to the 60-day IL on May 23 when a spot was needed on the 40-man roster for Owen Miller. The Tribe has been able to fill the void decently well with Austin Hedges and Rene Rivera, but Perez’s knowledge behind the plate is nearly irreplaceable.

There was a long patch where Cleveland didn’t have a player hit the IL from May 5 until Perez was moved on May 23, however the last week of the season was a juggernaut for the roster.

The next move saw Franmil Reyes hit the 10-day IL on May 23, the same day that Perez was moved to the 60-day with Miller being called up for Reyes’ roster spot. Only a few days later on May 26 the Tribe added Zach Plesac to the 10-day IL with his thumb injury thanks to a locker room chair. The last punch to the gut was placing Jordan Luplow on the 10-day list on May 28. Luplow had been battling an ankle injury most of the season and with the team in need of a pitcher, the move was just more of timing thing it seemed like. Give Luplow time to recover and the staff another arm.

While Cleveland has managed to make due with what they have, losing Reyes, Plesac and Luplow all within a week was a tough pill to swallow. A positive could be that they should all hopefully return within a similar window, but getting to that point won’t be easy.

Triston McKenzie #24 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images) /

Walks becoming on-going issue

Allowing free passes is never a good sign for a pitching staff. In the case of the Cleveland Indians, it’s becoming a growing concern. During the month of May, the Tribe allowed the third-most walks in all of baseball, walking a total of 124 batters during the month. Only the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels walked more with 136 and 132, respectively. To make matters worse, the pitching staff was tied for fifth in the league for wild pitches in May with 16.

From an individual perspective, both Triston McKenzie and Sam Hentges were in the league’s top five for walks allowed in May. McKenzie paced the league with 21 walks while Hentges wasn’t too far behind with 15 of his own. McKenzie has bounced back-and-forth between the minors and majors over the last week, but Hentges seems entrenched in his spot for the time being.

As for the season numbers, McKenzie leads the league there as well with 35 walks. However, a surprising name that’s also on that list is Shane Bieber, coming in at sixth in the league for walks with 29. From top to bottom, the Tribe’s pitching as struggled with walks so far this season. That needs to get under control if the team wants to play in the postseason.

Starting pitcher Aaron Civale #43 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /

The Starting Rotation

When talking about what went wrong for the Cleveland Indians during the month of May, the starting rotation got a little bit of everything. Some struggled, others were injured and in the end the unit is scrambling to figure out who’s pitching almost every day of the week.

First, sending down Triston McKenzie opened the door for figuring out another spot in the rotation after early struggles by Logan Allen allowed Sam Hentges an opportunity to start. Then, within a week of sending down McKenzie, Plesac hit the IL forcing the Tribe to return to McKenzie despite his inconsistencies that would normally be sorted out in Columbus.

From there, Hentges continued to be spotty in his starts and even Shane Bieber looked uncharacteristic. Throw in a windy start from Eli Morgan and the only pitcher we haven’t mentioned is the steady Aaron Civale.

Civale’s seven wins lead the American League and serve as a big bright spot in an otherwise questionable rotation. Bieber has been stellar as well, it’s just been below what we’ve been spoiled with from him over the last year. However, beyond those two it’s really just hit-and-miss for what the Tribe will get from the starting pitcher.

Now, if you’re ready for the uplifting three highlights from the month of May for the Cleveland Indians, those can be found here.

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Three things that went wrong in May for the Cleveland Indians

Injury Problems Strike

Walks becoming on-going issue

The Starting Rotation

Schedule