The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Spot starters have kept Indians in playoff picture
It came as no surprise that the Indians got another strong start from Aaron Civale on Aug. 5 at Progressive Field. Promoted from TripleA Columbus earlier in the day to fill in for the injured Danny Salazar, Civale limited the Rangers to one run on six hits in seven innings.
The 24-year-old righthander struck out seven, issued one walk and finished with 52 strikes on 89 pitches as the Indians were beaten by the Rangers, 1-0, in the opener of a three-game series.
Civale absorbed the toughluck loss because the Indians’ bats made nary a stir against Texas starter Mike Minor and two relievers.
Selected by the Indians in the third round of the 2016 draft out of Northeastern University, Civale had delivered a similarly stout performance in his previous spot start this season against Detroit on June 22.
Making his big-league debut, be earned the win by blanking the Tigers on two hits over six inning in a 2-0 victory.
These two outings by Civale, combined with the work of fellow fill-in starters Adam Plutko, Zack Plesac and Jefry Rodriquez before he went down with a shoulder injury in early June, demonstrate the superior depth of starting pitching that has enabled the Indians to stay in the thick of the playoff chase despite prolonged absences of established starters Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger.
To show how effective the Indians have been in identifying, drafting and developing starting pitchers, consider that none of the aforementioned pitchers opened the season with the Indians.
• Plesac broke camp with Double-A Akron and was promoted to Columbus before making his big-league debut May 28 in a 7-5 win at Boston. The 24-year-old right-hander is 6-3 with a 3.41 ERA in 12 starts with the Indians.
• Plutko started the season in Columbus. The 27-year-old right-hander is 4-2 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 appearances, 10 of them starts.
• Civale is 1-1 with a 0.75 ERA in his two starts. He started in Akron this season before moving up to Columbus.
To get a better idea how proficient the Indians’ player development staff has been in the readying of minor-league starting pitchers for duty with the big-league parent club, consider that Civale, Plesac and 2019 All-Star Game Most Valuable Players Shane Bieber all started the 2017 season with the full-season Single-A Lake County Captains.
No other team in the major leagues this season has done a better job than the Indians of plugging holes in its starting rotation.
Glasier can be reached at dglasier@news-herald. com; on Twitter: @nhglasier.