Cleveland Indians: Nick Goody steps up in the setup role

The Cleveland Indians are looking to find a replacement for Bryan Shaw, and Nick Goody did did well in his turn during the home opener.

The Cleveland Indians had a familiar route to victory on Friday.

The starting pitcher held a lead after six innings, and the game was closed out by both Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. But before the ball was handed to Miller, another pitcher came in and shut things down.

The pitcher who rounded out the great bullpen trio the past few years was Bryan Shaw, but the role is open in 2018. Nick Goody got his shot in the Shaw role on Friday and did well.

Goody came in and pitched a scoreless seventh inning at a time when the cold weather began to blow in and sleet was on the way. But he wasn’t phased and did his job, holding on to the 3-2 that was held since the first inning.

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This one game doesn’t mean Goody has cemented himself in that setup role, but he always seemed like the likely candidate as long as he performed well.

Zach McAllister figures to be a guy who can go several innings, while Tyler Olson could end up being more of a matchup guy when it comes to left-handed hitters.

That leaves Dan Otero, who still has a shot at the role, and Matt Belisle, who was the last player to make the bullpen and still needs to prove himself in an Indians uniform.

Goody has now logged 4.2 scoreless innings this season and has allowed only two hits in his four appearances.

That gives him the most innings for any reliever in the bullpen through the first seven games, showing how he is already being relied upon by Terry Francona.

It is still way too early to say Goody is the new Shaw, but based on what we have seen so far it is a fair early prediction to make. And if Goody avoids any terrible meltdowns on the mound, he can be the new Shaw without all the unnecessary hate from fans.

Next: 3 takeaways from the 2018 home opener

A lot of focus has been placed on the bullpen so far due to the offense continuing to struggle, and more scoreless innings from Goody to bail out the offense will only build up his case to create the trio of Goody, Miller and Allen.