The Indians have reached the 2016 World Series in part to Terry Francona‘s unconventional use of his pitching staff. If the Tribe is to continue their magical run to capture the crown, “Tito” will need to further modify his starting four to offset injuries suffered during the ALCS.
With Trevor Bauer‘s recovery time from his slashed pinky finger uncertain, Ryan Merritt will be forced into the front of the rotation during the nation’s largest stage. Of course, this is dependent on whether Danny Salazar will be healthy enough to not only pitch but start in the Fall Classic.
This article will state the reasons why Merritt should start game 2 and does not take into account the health of Salazar.
Thus, here is my suggested starting four for the World Series:
Corey Kluber (Tuesday, Game 1)
Ryan Merritt (Wednesday, Game 2)
Josh Tomlin (Friday, Game 3)
Trevor Bauer (Saturday, Game 4)
Merritt is an unknown; a top percentile athlete; a playoff starter and a means to an end.
[protected-iframe id=”19c787f6f2dffbde4f3078dcef3a09ef-114320562-107853376″ info=”19c787f6f2dffbde4f3078dcef3a09ef” ]He entered our collective consciousness a few days ago, when Terry Francona mentioned him as an option to start Game 5. We all assumed he misspoke. Armed with an 86 mph fastball, an 83 mph cutter, a slow curve, and a seldom-used changeup, Merritt crafted his way through the Blue Jays’ lineup for 4 ⅓ innings. Francona could have asked for five but multiple scoreless innings more than accomplished the goal.
This is the advantage of having a great bullpen, to be sure, but also of possessing a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series. Francona went for the jugular in Game 4, turning to Kluber on three days’ rest, but he did so knowing he could empty the pen (again) in Game 5 with a day off looming.
Opposite the generic-fill-in-turned-playoff-hero was Marco Estrada. Estrada pitched well, for the most part, but fell prey to his career-long bugaboo: the longball.Mike Napoli narrowly missed a home-run in the first, Carlos Santana unleashed a swing that was just like the ocean under the moon in the third, and Coco Crisp slammed a solo shot to left-center. That was the extent of the damage.
It might not have been enough in a regular-season game (or a regular-year game, if you’re Joe Buck). It was enough here, in this game and in this year for this Cleveland team.
The truth is this: the Indians exploited the differences between the postseason and regular season. Starters have to go deeper during the regular season because rest days aren’t as available and the leverage is lower in general. Merritt facing Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, and others for a third time would have been asking for trouble regardless of the upcoming schedule or the importance of the game.
Sure, he worked inside with his fastball, but it wasn’t hard to imagine a Jays batter straightening one out or, perhaps more likely, blistering a missed spot caused by fatigue. The lesser parts of the Cleveland bullpen might not have been up to the task of bridging the gap, either. But again, this was not a regular-season game and Francona knew it.
The plaudits for Francona are well deserved. He’s been more open-minded than any manager this side of Joe Maddon, and he’s been more aggressive since the pieces have been in place. Credit is due to the pitchers for the execution of the concepts Francona applies as well; Miller has been nearly flawless and the rest of the bullpen pales only in comparison to Miller. Still, it’s worth noting the risk involved in the strategy, despite its success.
If Merritt is tagged early or often, or it becomes a high-scoring but competitive game, the bullpen—just recently employed for 8 ⅓ innings—must be emptied once more. This is mitigated by the aforementioned pending off day, but with Kluber having thrown in Game 4, the Indians would be throwing Josh Tomlin and presumably Kluber, again on short rest. This was not an insubstantial risk, but it is one that’s more palatable with a 3-1 series lead, where you could allow the odds to play out a little more than usual.
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