Could Danny Salazar Have an Impact for the Indians in the Playoffs?

The Cleveland Indians could get Danny Salazar back from injury at some point in the postseason. How could the fireballing right-hander impact the team’s playoff run?

We already know that the Cleveland Indians will be working with an abbreviated starting rotation once the postseason hits. With the injuries to Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco, the Tribe will be relying on the quartet of Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin, and Mike Clevinger to take the ball and pitch on shorter than usual rest.

The playoff structure actually helps in this regard, as there are days off built into the schedule. Cleveland also has one of the strongest bullpens in baseball, and it can be assumed that manager Terry Francona will be leaning heavily on his relievers as well.

One encouraging development is the possibility, whispered about for the past couple of days, that Salazar could in fact be ready to come back from the right forearm strain for which he has been out since September 9th in time to be a part of that bullpen attack. Salazar played catch from 60 feet prior to Tuesday night’s game, the first time he has thrown since being shut down and receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection.

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“There’s a small chance he could be in our ‘pen early in the playoffs,” Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said on Tuesday. “A one-inning stint or something like that. Of course, if you get a guy like that, you have to make sure he doesn’t pitch back-to-back and things like that, so it’d be tough, even if he was healthy. But he’d be an option.”

The possibility that Salazar could be available in the bullpen for the American League Division Series, even in a limited role, helps to fill the hole created by Clevinger moving into the starting rotation. Francona and Callaway had originally planned to use the rookie as a bullpen weapon in the playoffs, and a healthy Salazar could step into similar usage.

“I think you’re always hoping for the best,” Francona said. “I think the No. 1 priority — not think, I know that the No. 1 priority is to get him healthy and have him feeling good about himself. If it ends up being more than that, boy that’d be wonderful. I think we need to go step by step.”

The Tribe, of course, has not clinched a postseason berth yet, but after Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals – the team’s 11th walkoff win of the season – their magic number to win the division is down to just six. It is conceivable the club could have things sewn up by the time the current homestand is finished.

Game one of the ALDS is scheduled for Thursday, October 6th, with postseason rosters due prior to the beginning of the series, which means Cleveland has 16 days or less to determine whether or not Salazar will be ready and able to contribute in a meaningful way. If he isn’t ready for the ALDS, and if the Indians advance to the American League Championship Series, game one would be Friday, October 14th.

“We don’t know,” Callaway said. “We’re really going to have to figure all that out. I’m sure we’ll sit down in the next two weeks and talk about it.”

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While a return isn’t guaranteed, and there’s now way of predicting how he would perform if he does, just the possibility of having Salazar back in some capacity for the playoffs is welcome news. During a stretch where seemingly all of the talk about the team from the media has been on the gloomy side, this is a little ray of light for the Tribe and its fans to hold onto.