Indians Re-Sign Shaun Marcum

Indians & Marcum Decide To Give It Another Try

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The Cleveland Indians have re-signed right handed pitcher Shaun Marcum to a minor league contract.

Last year the Tribe signed him coming off right shoulder surgery as a result of thoracic outlet syndrome.

His rehabilitation from the surgery had several hiccups and he didn’t play a role with the Indians at the major league level.

He did work in eight games for the Indians Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers going 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA (4ER/15.1IP) striking out 10 and walking six batters.

The Indians hope that he can provide an option to their rotation in the event of injury or poor performance.  He has a career mark of 58-46 with an ERA of 3.88 and a strike out rate of 7.3 K/9 and a walk rate of 2.7 BB/9.

When  he is healthy he has been a solid starter but his inability to stay healthy has short circuited his career. While with the Blue Jays in 2008 he had Tommy John surgery on his pitching season which cost him the 2009 season.

After returning to the Jays in 2010 he was unable to stay healthy landing on the 15-day disabled list with a sore left elbow. After the season he was traded by the Blue Jays to the Milwaukee Brewers for Brett Lawrie.

He had a very successful 2011 season with the Brewers making 33 starts, delivering 200.2 innings and posting a 13-7 record with a 3.54 ERA. The next season he once again experienced pain in his elbow and ended up on the 60-day disabled list with right elbow tightness.

After the season he signed with the New York Mets as a free agent and opened the 2013 season on the 15-day disabled list with a pinch nerve in his neck. He made his season debut in April but was not himself appearing in 14 games (12 starts) and posting a record of   1-10 with a 5.29 ERA (46ER/78.1IP) he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome ending his season.

Despite his long injury history he has shown that he knows how to pitch when healthy.  The Indians and Marcum hope that an  off-season full  of conditioning and strength training rather than recovering from an injury will go a long way to reestablishing his value at the big league level.