Needing another starter pitcher, the Cleveland Indians will be calling up Zach Plesac from AAA Columbus.
After sending Adam Plutko down to Columbus, the Cleveland Indians needed someone to take his place in the rotation. That person for the time being appears to be Zach Plesac. Jon Heyman reported Saturday that Cleveland will call up Plesac to start in Boston on Tuesday.
As Heyman states Plesac did not spend much time in AAA. Plesac went 3-0 in three starts with a 2.25 ERA over 20 innings pitched. Perhaps the most impressive statistic from Plesac is his 22-1 strikeout to walk ratio. While it is extremely unlikely that Plesac replicates anything remotely close to this, but there is at least an idea of what he will do at the Major League level.
Looking at Plesac’s AA performance what was done in Columbus is not an outlier. Over two seasons in Akron Plesac went 4-2 in 10 starts with a 1.52 ERA. In similar fashion to his strikeout to walk ratio, Plesac struck out 55 batters while only walking 10. Whether or not Plesac can continue his record of success will remain to be seen.
Zach Plesac’s time with Cleveland may be short lived. As of now there is only one game on the schedule without a planned starter. That game would be next Sunday against the Chicago White Sox. After that there are two consecutive Monday’s where Cleveland has an off day. This reduces the need for a fifth starter. Also there is the fact that Mike Clevinger will be returning sooner rather than later which will lessen the need for Plesac even further. Although there is the possibility that the Indians will keep Plesac up with the big league club as a potential bullpen arm. Cleveland has already called up Josh Smith to help the bullpen and could use a similar tactic with Plesac if they feel it is necessary.
