Cleveland Indians: Once healthy, Cleveland’s roster can still contend

Once healthy, the Cleveland Indians can still contend

The Cleveland Indians have been beaten and battered by injuries over the last couple months, but despite those bumps the team has still managed to remain within shouting distance of both the divisional race and the wild card spots. As more players begin returning from the injured list, and hopefully no one else is added, the Tribe will still be able to contend once healthy. Not just for a playoff spot, but deep into the postseason.

So far this season the list of players that have hit the injured list at one point or another is rather extensive for Cleveland. Unfortunately, most of them have overlapped as well. The Tribe survived April without anyone on the injured list, but come May they started piling up.

Since May 5 the following players have all landed on the injured list at one point or another: Roberto Perez, Franmil Reyes, Zach Plesac, Jordan Luplow, Shane Bieber, Austin Hedges, Aaron Civale, Josh Naylor. There’s also been players who have missed time without going on the list like Eddie Rosario and Jose Ramirez just recently.

Hedges, Perez and Reyes are back and Plesac is on his way, but that still leaves two of the team’s best starting pitchers to return this season. At the time that Perez was placed on the injured list, Cleveland was 15-13 on the season, meaning that we’ve witnessed the Cleveland Indians at full strength for just 28 games, at best, of the 81 played. Despite that, the team is still 42-39.

Now, getting back to full strength completely won’t happen. It would be shocking to see Naylor return. However, once Plesac, Bieber and Civale are back the Tribe will be rolling on all cylinders. In the absence of the starting pitching the offense has picked up steam a bit. If those three starters can return and bring the pitching back up to the level it was at the beginning of the season, this team is ready to make a strong playoff push.

Cleveland Indians Starting Rotation

It’s been well documented that the starting rotation of the Cleveland Indians has been hit hard this season in about every way imaginable. First, the two prospects that completed the rotation struggled and were sent down. Then, the reliable starting trio all went on the injured list. The icing on the cake has been how hard the pieced together starting rotation has been hit.

Luckily, the 2016 MLB Draft class of Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac should hopefully be returning soon. Plesac has made one rehab start already and was supposed to make his second on July 3, but hasn’t appeared since that first appearance. As for Bieber and Civale, they are still in the waiting period to begin throwing again to get a concrete timetable.

Once those three return, the Cleveland Indians will have three of five starting rotation spots taken care of. The other two are still up in the air. Of the pitchers that have filled in recently, only Cal Quantrill has an ERA below 6.00 and what is keeping Quantrill’s down at 4.20 is his reliever stats from earlier in the season.

However, Quantrill still might be the best candidate to fill a spot in the rotation at this point. After all, he is a member of the 2016 MLB Draft class.

Over seven starts this year, Quantrill is giving up just under three runs a start and he has a scoreless start and two one-run outings under his belt. The only problem is he also has a five-spot and a six-spot on the ledger as well. Consistency hasn’t been his friend, but he’s still been the best option, even if he hasn’t gone longer than 5.1 innings yet.

That would leave just one spot up for grabs in the rotation. Again, the Cleveland Indians could venture into the trade market. There are plenty of cheap starting pitchers the team could explore. If the front office sees the potential to contend in the playoffs, which they should, they know another starting pitcher is a must down the stretch to solidify the unit.

Cleveland Indians Bullpen

Despite having a few bumps recently, the bullpen of the Cleveland Indians is still one of the best in the game right now. They are being stretched thin due to the struggles of the starting rotation, but once the rotation returns to full strength, the bullpen should be able to follow suit.

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Even after a difficult month that saw the bullpen’s ERA well above 5.00 over the last 30 days, the Cleveland Indians are still boasting the fourth-best bullpen ERA in baseball. With a mark of 3.33, only the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants have better bullpen numbers.

The Tribe’s bullpen is also sixth for strikeouts while being one of the most successful teams in save situations. Cleveland has 22 saves in 27 save situations (.815). No other team is above. 800.

Once the starting pitching stabilizes, the Cleveland Indians will be able to cut games down to seven innings again before turning it over the dominant bullpen that has been lights out late in games. Having Bryan Shaw, Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak late in games is great, but they haven’t been able to be used in their best situations due to the weakness of the rotation.

The Cleveland Indians are close to being back to full strength. Once they are, this team is ready to roll through the second half of the season. Getting through July will be difficult, but if they can just stay afloat and get healthy, the Tribe will be a dangerous team to face. The best part is, most of these players will be back next season with the addition of rising stars in the minors.