Indians lose starter Mike Clevinger for 6-8 weeks with back strain
Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Mike Clevinger began the season with two spotless starts, but he won’t be picking up a baseball again for quite awhile.
The Indians announced on Tuesday that Clevinger is headed to the 10-day injured list with a right upper back/teres major muscle strain. He left his most recent start (just his second of the season) with upper back tightness after tossing five innings of one-hit ball against the Toronto Blue Jays. Clevinger’s injury wasn’t initially thought to be major, but manager Terry Francona said on Tuesday that Clevinger won’t be touching a baseball again for nearly two months.
Regarding Mike Clevinger, Terry Francona says it’ll be 6-8 weeks “before we’re even looking at him picking up a ball.”
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) April 9, 2019
Replacing Clevinger won’t be easy. He pitched over 200 innings in 2018 and ended the season with a 3.02 ERA. He’s yet to allow a run in two 2019 starts, which just hinted at more greatness to come.
Cleveland has called up Nick Wittgren from Triple-A in Clevinger’s place. It’s not clear if Wittgren will be the permanent replacement for Clevinger while he’s out of commission, but if not, it’s likely to be another pitcher in the organization. The Indians spent the entire offseason cutting payroll and making trades instead of signing free agents, so the chances of them signing someone now are slim-to-none. They could try to make a trade, but with a weak farm system and several Triple-A pitchers dealing with injuries, that also doesn’t look likely.
Losing Clevinger could be a huge blow for the Indians. The Minnesota Twins, Cleveland’s most likely challenger for the American League Central crown, have started the season strong after spending the offseason getting better. The Indians spent their offseason not doing that, and now they’re facing a major absence in their rotation. The AL Central race just got a lot more interesting.
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