After a brief stint down in Triple-A Columbus with the Clippers, Zach Plesac will return to Cleveland to start for the Indians against the Detroit Tigers.
Zach Plesac was sent to Triple-A last week to make room for Greg Allen. This was not necessarily due to his performance, but so he can continue to throw on his schedule. Plesac did start for the Columbus Clippers on July 11th. Now Plesac is back with the Tribe to take on the Tigers.
This will be the second start against Detroit for Zach Plesac. Back on June 23rd Plesac took mound at home against the Tigers and pitched quite well. Plesac allowed one run on five hits in seven inning with two strikeouts. The only run Plesac allowed was an unlikely solo home run off the bat of the JaCoby Jones.
Unfortunately his next two starts did not go as well. In 6.1 innings Plesac allowed 10 runs on 10 hits while walking six. The first was the surprising 13-0 in Baltimore to the Orioles. The second was a victory in Kansas City which Plesac ended up with a no-decision.
It will be important for Zach Plesac to keep his pitch count down against Detroit. In the two outings which Plesac struggled he reached a high pitch count early. In 3.2 innings against the Orioles Plesac threw 90 pitchers and 2.2 innings against the Royals he needed 58 pitches. During the previous six starts which saw Plesac pitch well he averaged 96.5 pitches per outing and lasted more than six innings on average. Cleveland will need to get a performance that resembles his first six starts rather than the last two. Detroit is not the best team by any means but they can take advantage of a starter who struggles. A perfect example being Adam Plutko on Monday It would be best if Plesac can avoid a performance similar to Plutko’s.
