The Cleveland Indians got some bad news Friday. Starting pitcher Mike Clevinger will undergo surgery due to a meniscus injury.
This is not the type of news that the Cleveland Indians and their fans wanted to hear today. On the same day the signing of Domingo Santana was made official, it was announced that Mike Clevinger has a left meniscus injury which will require surgery.
The injury is a partial tear of his left meniscus and there is not yet a timetable for his return.
Cleveland is already entering the season without two of their starters from last season. Trevor Bauer was part of a three-team deal with Cincinnati and San Diego before the trade deadline last season. Corey Kluber was part of a trade that had Delino DeShields and Emmanuel Claase coming to Cleveland from Texas. Removing another starting pitcher from the equation will make things just a bit more difficult.
Most assumed that Mike Clevinger would be Cleveland’s Opening Day starter. Clevinger is arguably Cleveland’s best starter at this moment in time. Clevinger’s performance in recent years led to the decisions to trade some of their other starters. Being without someone they were going to depend on will make things more difficult for the Indians.
As it stands now, Cleveland will have Shane Bieber and Carlos Carrasco as the only mortal locks for the rotation. Other options include Adam Plutko, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Jefry Rodriguez. Bubble guys such as Plutko, Plesac and Rodriguez may have an opportunity to crack the Opening Day roster.
Mike Clevinger will obviously miss Opening Day and perhaps several weeks after that. The Indians cannot afford a slow start with the Twins and White Sox having an aggressive approach in free agency and the trade market. Cleveland is going to have to weather the storm without Mike Clevinger and have to make sure they do not fall too far behind Minnesota and Chicago during the first month of the season. A division cannot be won in March/April, but it sure as hell can be lost.
