Cleveland Indians: Who should Danny Salazar replace in the rotation?

Danny Salazar is set to make his return to the rotation Saturday against Toronto. With a full rotation currently active, which pitcher, if any, should he replace?

When Danny Salazar went down he was already having a very rough start to his season, posting a 3-5 record along with a 5.80 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP, both career highs. His first few rehab starts did not look much improved from those numbers.

His most recent outing, however, he posted a quality start going 6.0 shutout innings and striking out nine batters after manager Terry Francona told him to “get after it”.” Salazar certainly did not disappoint.

The question will be who he should replace in the rotation upon his return. With five pitchers in the rotation already, Salazar will need a spot opened up.

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The two obvious choices for this would be Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin. Both of these pitchers have struggled mightily for the Indians this season.

Bauer’s latest outing is a prime example of his struggles on the year. He could not get out of the first inning while giving up four runs on three hits and only going 0.2 innings.

If Bauer, who has a 5.59 ERA on the season, can’t get going it increases his demotion chances.

Tomlin is another likely casualty of Salazar’s return. Tomlin, who has had two quality starts in a row, has gotten it going as of late, which could bode well for his case to remain in the rotation.

The Boone Logan injury gives the team some flexibility in activating Salazar. Now his activation will correspond with Logan being sent to the DL.

The hope among most Indians fans is that Mike Clevinger is not sent down to make room for Salazar. While Clevinger is a young pitcher, he has been a more consistent cog in the rotation than Bauer or Tomlin.

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Salazar replacing anyone is contingent upon him pitching well in his return, so fans will get a better idea of how he is doing when he takes the mound this Saturday in front of a sellout crowd.