The Indians were unable to avoid the sweep on Thursday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics. To put it extremely lightly, this just was not the Indians’ day at the ballpark.
The Tribe gave up 17 runs on 12 hits against the A’s in a game that never seemed to let up. Command was certainly an issue throughout the day, as Cleveland walked ten A’s batters and hit another three.
For the Indians, Thursday was a microcosm of the 2021 season as a whole. Indians starting pitcher Eli Morgan was struggling early, which forced the bullpen to come out after Morgan allowed five runs in four innings, in short, he just didn’t have his best stuff today.
Morgan wasn’t alone, however…
Young and the Reliefless
Once Morgan left the game after the fourth inning, the bleeding didn’t stop. Reliever Justin Garza was unable to record an out and allowed four runs on three walks and a home run from Athletics first baseman Mitch Moreland.
Indians prospect Francisco Perez made his major league debut, however it did not go quite as planned, allowing three runs in 1 ⅓ innings pitched with three walks and three hits allowed. Perez, who was called up on August 9th, was known for his mid-90 mph fastball in the minors with some interesting movement from his offspeed pitches. Most of his fastballs on Thursday were in the low-90mph range and it showed given the lack of strikeouts.
Making his Indians debut as well was reliever Alex Young. Young, a Westlake, OH native and 2015 2nd round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks, was claimed off waivers by the Tribe on July 27th and was called up on Thursday morning after the club placed reliever Nick Sandlin on the 10-day injured list.
Young pitched 2 ⅓ innings and allowed four earned runs on three hits and only issued one walk in his Cleveland debut and homecoming.
“I thought [Alex] Young threw the ball pretty good,” Indians interim manager DeMarlo Hale told reporters following the game. “He got into trouble towards his last part, and I think that’s the pitch count… you can see him getting tired. … Without the double down the line, I think he would have gotten out of there without giving up another run.”
Young and Perez both have opportunities to find a role in a new-look Cleveland bullpen. With reliever Phil Maton moved at the deadline and now Sandlin on the IL, there could be an opportunity to carve out a spot in the group.
Give and take…
For Indians shortstop Amed Rosario, this has felt like a tale of two seasons.
On the one hand, he has been much better than anticipated at the plate, especially in the month of August where he has batted .362 with an on-base percentage of .380.
On the other, there have been many miscues in the field, including a fielder’s choice in the second inning that not only could have gotten the team out of the inning, but also helped limit the damage that Morgan gave up in the contest.
This isn’t the first time that Rosario has had questionable defense on the diamond this season, but there-in-lies the problem. Rosario is a liability at shortstop, is not a natural second baseman, and has never played in the outfield.
So where does he play? His bat is too good to take out of the lineup. His speed is a great asset to the group as well, especially paired with new outfielder Myles Straw at the top of the lineup.
What to do with Amed Rosario will be one of the big storylines to watch as this season continues and heads into the offseason.
What’s next?
The Indians will travel to Detroit to take on the Tigers on Friday at 7:10 pm. Pitching for the Tribe will be right-hander Zach Plesac (6-4, 4.84 ERA) taking on Tyler Alexander (2-1, 4.35 ERA) at Comerica Park.
