Cleveland Indians: Starting Pitching in a Deep Freeze

It’s been said that all the greats have ice in their veins. The Cleveland Indians starting pitching staff, on the other hand, just look like they have frozen arms.

Last season with key injuries to Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes, the Tribe leaned heavily on their starters and the bullpen to keep them in the conversation for the AL Central, but in the end with a lack of run production, the Tribe would come up short. Too many players hurt, equaled offensive struggles.

The bright spot for the Indians in 2015 was Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, who combined to set another pitching record, as this trio of strike out Jedi’s, sat down at least 195 batters plus. Kluber fanned 245, Carrasco “K’d” 216, and Salazar whiffed 195. 

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Going into the 2016 season, the only sure bet for the Tribe faithful was a strong starting pitching staff that could help the low scoring Indians to win games. Little would we know, but it’s the hitters that have pulled up their socks and are pulling the weight.  The batting lineup looks solid, with key hits, timely home runs and taking advantage of runners in scoring position. The feeling is, with the return of Michael Brantley on the horizon, the Tribe could finally supply the pitching staff with enough run support to turn an 81 win season to 95 plus. So far in 4 games (thanks to the weather) the Indians have scored 19 runs through their first 4 games, averaging 4.75 runs per game.

Compare those early 2016 numbers to what the Tribe did during for the entire 2015 season, scoring 669 runs over 161 games, averaging 4.15 runs per game, and the Indians are a 0.6 of a run better so far. That may not seem like a ton to some but it could be the difference in making the postseason and spending another postseason wondering what went wrong, and wondering how it can be fixed.

To me with 4 games in, the only question that we should be asking ourselves is, where has the pitching gone? Maybe it’s too early for me to be placing the blame for our losses on the starting pitching, especially with the way home runs have been flying out of Major League ballparks early on this year, but in my eyes if the Indians are going to be competitive, pitching is, and has to be the focal point.

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So, despite the rain, the snow and the cold, let’s hope those pitching arms thaw out, and the starters get back to what kept our hopes alive in 2015, striking out everyone in sight. If the Tribe starters get hot, and the run support continues to grow, the Indians will be hard to beat, and an American League Central Divisional crown, could and would be within reach.