Cleveland Indians: Danny Salazar's chances of becoming an ace

Cleveland Indians fans know Danny Salazar can be a star, but his health once again remains a concern heading into the 2018 season.

The Cleveland Indians already have two aces in Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer is making a claim to be considered among the best pitchers in the American League.

This sets up Indians fans to witness some greatness from the rotation once again, and that is before considering the fact there is potentially another ace on the staff.

Danny Salazar was an All-Star in 2016 and started the Wild Card game back in the 2013 postseason, but has been out of the postseason rotation the past two seasons due to injuries sustained during the regular season. He has made relief appearances the past two postseasons, but has not been at the high level fans have seen him at in the past.

An article on MLB.com by Zach Crizer lists Salazar as a starter who could turn into an ace, and it is hard to argue with the logic.

Salazar is a statistically great pitcher and is one of the best in the AL when healthy. The problem is the last part of that sentence. He has only started 30 games once in his career, back in 2015, and only logged 103 innings a year ago. It seems that whenever he gets rolling, an injury sets him back.

Indians fans know Salazar is more than capable of becoming an ace. It is why his name has popped up in trade rumors and perhaps also why the Indians haven’t traded him.