Cleveland Indians Option Kyle Crockett; Recall Austin Adams

The Cleveland Indians have made a roster move before this afternoon’s game against the Boston Red Sox, announcing that left-handed reliever Kyle Crockett was optioned to Triple-A. Taking his place is right-handed reliever Austin Adams who was recalled from Columbus. 

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Crockett appeared in 11 games for the Indians this season after originally beginning the year in Triple-A Columbus. In just 3 2/3 innings, Crockett amassed an ugly 14.73 ERA and 2.45 WHIP. Opponents hit a robust .389 off him as well. Most recently he got tagged for three runs in just 1/3 of an inning in yesterday’s ballgame against the Red Sox. This most certainly won’t be the last time we see Crockett in Cleveland, as he’s become accustomed to the I-71 Shuffle between Cleveland and Columbus.

After making the opening day roster last season, Adams began 2016 with Triple-A Columbus.  In 14 appearances, Adams had a 1.10 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. In 16 1/3 innings, opponents hit just .186 off Adams, and he had a strikeout rate of nearly 10 per nine innings (9.92 K/9). Adams last appeared in a game on Thursday when he pitched two scoreless innings for the Clippers, recording his fourth save in four chances.

The move leaves the Indians without a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen (or on the entire roster for that matter). The Indians will instead go with eight right-handed relievers. Not the ideal situation for a big league ballclub but seemed inevitable. The Indians originally tried to go with veteran Ross Detwiler as their left-handed option out of the pen, but he was soon designated for assignment after failing to impress. Crockett was the only other left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster and got a second crack but he too failed to live up to expectations.

Next: The Rajai Effect

The only other lefties on the roster are starters T.J. House and Ryan Merritt, who are both currently in the Triple-A rotation. Perhaps the Indians could get desperate enough to use one of them out of the bullpen. In the meantime, the Indians will make due with what they have as they take on the Red Sox in the series rubber match this afternoon. Danny Salazar and Rick Porcello will go head-to-head for the two clubs. The starting lineups for each club are as follows: