Cleveland Indians: Clevinger has earned spot in Tribe’s rotation

The Cleveland Indians came into camp with a few question marks. One of those questions has just been answered.

Reports have surfaced that Mike Clevinger has officially earned a spot in the Indians rotation. Coming into camp, there were seven candidates for five rotation spots. Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer were all locks while Clevinger, Danny Salazar, Josh Tomlin, and Ryan Merritt were battling for the two remaining spots.

The report also states that Josh Tomlin is in the rotation as well, meaning the rotation battle is effectively over. Salazar is still dealing with his shoulder injury and is behind schedule enough he figures to start the season on the DL.

Salazar was thought to be a favorite for the Cleveland Indians rotation provided he was healthy, but he isn’t healthy and that leaves him and Merritt on the outside looking in. Merritt figured to be a longshot for the rotation anyways, but he can now focus in on being a reliever to start the season.

Clevinger earned this spot not only through his success last season but with a great spring so far. He struck out six Dodgers over three innings in his latest outing and he has proven himself to be an innings eater.

It’s been clear from the start of spring training that Clevinger was looking to lock up his spot in the rotation, stating that his goal was to throw 200 innings this season. And now, he has the chance to complete that goal.

What happens after Salazar returns?

That’s the million dollar question right now. Because of Salazar’s injury that will place him on the disabled list to start the season, the rotation lists Clevinger technically as the fifth starter, meaning he would be the first one to be taken out when Salazar returns.

However, that depends on a lot of things. Whenever Salazar is finally healthy, the Cleveland Indians have a big decision to make. If both Clevinger and Josh Tomlin are pitching well at that time, it will be difficult to remove either from the rotation. So Salazar could get pushed to the bullpen when he comes back.

If Clevinger is doing well when Salazar returns, he deserves to stay in the rotation. The injury to Salazar only delays the rotation decision the Tribe needs to make. There’s a lot of depth in this group and someone isn’t going to make it. But the way things stand now, Salazar is on the outside and it’s more likely than ever before that he gets moved to the bullpen and Clevinger gets to stay in the rotation.

Next: The under the radar bullpen piece

Now that this roster battle is settled, there are still a few others that need to be worked out. The utility infield and bullpen battles are the two main ones that are left and there’s still lots of time to figure out who will win those.