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Cleveland Indians: Danny Salazar heading to the bullpen
Danny Salazar, coming off an All-Star campaign last year, was slotted to be one of the Cleveland Indians' most reliable starters. Now, after just 10 starts, manager Terry Francona has demoted the Dominican from the rotation, hoping he can find his rhythm in another role.
Danny Salazar entered the year as not only a promising young starter for the Cleveland Indians, but as a dark horse Cy Young contender. Now, for the first time ever during his stint in the majors, he is headed to the bullpen.
With Mike Clevinger's recent dominance since being called up and ace Corey Kluber's return next week, manager Terry Francona decided to bump Salazar from the rotation.
The fireball-throwing righty's numbers didn't help his case either.
Salazar has struggled all season, boasting an unappealing 5.50 ERA through 10 starts so far. He's already surrendered 11 home runs this year – he allowed just 16 all of last season – and he's giving up more than a hit per inning.
But Salazar's outing Saturday brought to light another issue: his control. He walked five in just 5 1/3 innings, a season-high. The 27 year old hasn't been punished too much by his control, but when a pitcher is having a rough year, any small problem can determine whether he gets bumped from the rotation.
After arguably guiding the club to the World Series last season, Cleveland's starting staff has been one of the worst in the league this year. Starters own a combined 5.02 ERA, which is fifth-worst of the 30 MLB teams.
Carlos Carrasco is the only starter on the squad that has an ERA better than 3.00. Even Kluber, who has been a consistent top-tier pitcher since 2014, has been bad, compiling a 5.06 ERA.
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If the Indians' bullpen wasn't the best in the entire league, Cleveland may be a sub-.500 crew way behind in the standings. Instead, it sits in second place of a watered-down American League Central just a few games behind the Minnesota Twins – what year is this again?
Francona's decision should be surprising to most people. Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin have both pitched worse this year compared to Salazar, and they have less upside. But maybe since the manager expects Salazar to be better, he believes he can gain most from moving out of his starting spot until he gets back into form.
The Indians shouldn't have to worry too much. They should probably be toward the bottom of the standings in the AL, considering that their starting pitching has been so inadequate. But like Salazar, most of the pitchers will eventually improve throughout the course of the year.
Even though they haven't played great, Cleveland is still one of the most menacing teams in the league. And if Salazar can find his command and pitch how he has the past few years, the club will just be even better.
