Valley native offers major-league insight
offers major-league insight
EL CENTRO — The Cleveland Indians are one win away from advancing to the AL Championship Series, with Imperial Valley native Ruben Niebla once again serving as a mentor for a majority of the team’s current pitching staff.
The Calexico native has been a pitching coach within the Indians’ player-development system since 2001 and nearly saw the organization capture a World Series title last season.
“This is definitely an exciting time of year… it never gets old,” Niebla said of the post season. “I believe that a lot of the excitement in our organization has to do with that we have a stronger team and a healthier team than last year.”
One obvious strength for the team this year is its ace Corey Kluber, who has 18 wins and a thirdbest 265 strikeouts on the season.
The Washington Post recently acknowledged Kluber’s efforts in a piece titled, “An ordinary prospect, Corey Kluber found something extra in a two-seam fastball.”
The two-seamer was pressed on Kluber by none other than Niebla during a 2012 bullpen session when the right-hander was still in Triple-A.
Two years later, Kluber won the Cy Young Award.
Yet, somewhat ironically, Niebla admits it was never his goal to coach at any level.
Still Niebla, who played professionally for six seasons from 19952000 in the Expos and Dodgers organizations including two seasons at the AAA level, remembers a conversation early in his pro career that was a harbinger of things to come.
“My farm director with the Expos, at my first spring training, asked me that if the pitching didn’t work out, was I interested in coaching,” Niebla explained. “I always knew I wanted to stay in baseball as long as I could, but 17 years ago it wasn’t my goal.”
Why the Indians are improved this season
Last year, Niebla provided great insight into the Indians’ post-season run, which ultimately ended in game seven of the World Series.
Niebla believes Cleveland could be even better this season and points to two indicators of the Indians’ advantages over last year, with one including pitching, of course.
This post season has right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco as well as first baseman Carlos Santana.
“Last year, [Carlos] Carrasco was hurt and didn’t pitch at all and this season he is our No. 2 pitcher and has won as many games as Cory [Kluber] and having him is a shot in the arm,” Niebla said. “Last year, Cory [Kluber] had to carry a bigger load, but now we have Carlos [Carrasco] and [Trevor] Bauer to help.”
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“I think the streak was the byproduct of preparation and opportunity and it fit into a season where we were playing great ball,” Niebla said. “We never lost two games ina-row after that, so it was a consistent season.”
Niebla also believes the Indians’ minors’ system will give them an advantage over other teams.
“Every starter was in our minor league system (which Niebla oversees) at some point in their career and 75 percent of our innings came from guys who came up in our system,” he said. “The Dodger starters, for example, have only 20-something percent of innings from players they developed… it makes it easier for us to enjoy and appreciate our pitchers when you’ve seen them work hard to get here.”
Yet, with the playoffs just getting under way, Niebla also acknowledges that it will be a tough road for the team to repeat the magic of last season.
“You know, it’s tough to get back to the World Series, and right now we are riding the wave,” Niebla said. “But the playoffs are a different animal... it’s going to be hard for us to get there and hard to win it.”