Adam Plutko has stepped into the rotation of the Cleveland Indians and has been quite surprising filling for the missing starters.
When one thinks of Adam Plutko images of Josh Tomlin 2.0 emerge. A pitcher who does not strike out a lot of batters, gets outs by contact and serves up home runs quite regularly. Over his career and the bulk of this season that has been true. Over the last seven starts things have been a bit different. Adam Plutko has actually been more than serviceable on the mound and the Tribe have desperately needed that without Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco being available.
In his last seven starts Adam Plutko has a record of 3-2 and an ERA of 3.27. Over that span Plutko has allowed 15 runs on 36 hits while striking out 29 and walking nine. The home run numbers are down as well as he has only given up six. Considering that Plutko gave up three long balls in his last start before this stretch this is quite impressive.
Opponents are slashing .228/.274/.399 with an OPS of .673 dating back to July 30 against Adam Plutko. This is considerably better than his season slash line of .252/.288/.486 and a .774 OPS. Things appear to be trending in the right direction in terms of what he is doing on the mound.
Adam Plutko is also lasting just under six innings per start during this stretch. There was a time from mid-June to mid-July that Plutko could barely make it five innings. The ability to go just a bit deeper into games not only helps the Indians potentially win games today, but it takes some of the pressure off of the bullpen to preserve the lead for longer which will help them win future games.
History says that Plutko will probably see some regression in regards to his performance as the season comes to a close, that is just how it is. Although if Plutko can keep the ball in the yard at a reasonable rate, his surprising performances could continue.
