CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Indians have elected to begin the shortened 2020 season with a traditional five-man pitching rotation.
Manager Terry Francona made the announcement Tuesday.
“We had discussed going with six out of the chute,” Francona said. “I think we finally fell on the fact that even though our guys have done a really good job in being stretched out, they’re still not quite where you’d be in a normal spring and we want to be able to protect our bullpen.”
The decision allows Francona flexibility with Mike Clevinger coming off a torn meniscus in his left knee that was surgically repaired in mid-February and Carlos Carrasco hasn’t started consistently since being diagnosed with chronic myleoid leukemia in May 2019.
“The thought with six pitchers is if somebody has a hiccup, and it’s probably not realistic that somebody won’t, then all of a sudden you’re burning through your bullpen,” Francona said. “And we’ve got 17 in a row [to start the season]
“We want to divide the workload as much as we can.”
Once the decision was made to go with five starters, the final rotation spot came down to Zach Plesac and Adam Plutko.
“Carl [Willis] and I talked to Adam Plutko today,” Francona said. “Adam is going to start out in the bullpen for us.”
The rotation looks like this: Shane Bieber, Clevinger, Carrasco, Aaron Civale and Plesac.
Plutko pitched out of the pen five times during the 2018 season. He was 7-5 with a 4.86 ERA in 21 games – 20 of those starts – last season.
“I think he would prefer to start, and I don’t blame him one bit. And I don’t think he’s done anything to not start, or [not] be worthy of starting,” Francona said. “I just think the way we’re set up right now, we feel it puts our team in the best position to succeed.
“He’s extremely mature when you give him a message like that, like he’s been through everything, through negotiations, the kid’s growing up right in front of our eyes. It’s fun to watch.”
