CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) – Thursday night was a showcase for Indians starting pitcher Zach Plesac’s final start of the 2020 season.
The audition was to see if Plesac will pitch in Game 2 of next week’s playoff series, which is still to be determined.
Well, the 25-year-old right-hander should be at least penciled in for that start.
In Cleveland’s 5-4 win against the Chicago White Sox, Plesac was locked in for his regular-season finale. The Ball State graduate went 6 2/3 innings, giving up four runs, four hits, and striking out seven.
“It was a good plan of attack,” Plesac said. “I really established the curveball; I did leave one up in the zone that had a good out.
I think having a good feel for that just brings my confidence up for my next outing. I think we had them off the pitches we were calling all night – giving up one hit through the sixth – making one mistake.”
Plesac’s first run he gave up was a solo home run to White Sox shortstop Yolmer Sanchez in the third inning.
In the seventh, Plesac was running out of the gas for Cleveland (34-23). He gave up a lead-off triple to Yoan Moncada and scored on an RBI groundout by Yasmani Grandal. Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez both reached, then both scored on an RBI single by Nomar Mazara – making it 4-1 Chicago.
“It seemed like there was an out of the outside part of the plate,” Plesac said. “I just had to execute that pitch, and it got away. I threw a few breaking balls, a couple of curveballs, and a slider down, but they finally got it. It came down to execution and getting it where I wanted to go.”
Indians interim manager Sandy Alomar was pleased with Plesac’s final regular-season outing.
“He was doing OK ... he was cruising along, and then he going into some trouble in that inning,” Alomar said. “He kept a couple of balls up, and they hit him hard in that inning. He was very economical. We were a little short in the (bull)pen, so we tried to stretch him out there, but he was fine overall.”
Plesac finished the regular season with a 4-2 record, pitched 55 1/3 innings and struck out 57 batters. He missed time with the team due to breaking the Indians’ COVID-19 protocols back on Aug. 8 in Chicago.
However, with that situation in his review mirror, Plesac is looking ahead towards the postseason and potentially being named the Game 2 starter.
“It would mean a lot for me,” he said. “It means that I put the hard work in and the guys trust me. Really, whoever pitches, is going to come down to the best pitcher we face. That’s crazy and shows how deep we are, and how much depth this rotation is. It wouldn’t matter who starts.”