Indians manager Terry Francona loves relievers and set-up man Bryan Shaw loves to pitch.
A perfect match that Tinder couldn’t have produced , right?
Shaw has made 224 appearances for Francona and the Indians over the last three seasons. In 2014, he pitched in a club-record 80 games and became the first Indians reliever to lead the big leagues outright in appearances in 94 years. He followed up that record setting season by pitching in 74 games in 2015.
No manager in the American League has used his bullpen more over the last three years than Francona. He set an AL record in 2014 by going to the pen 573 times. Last season, the success of the starting rotation going deep into games alleviated the need to use the bullpen as much but Shaw was still the workhorse.
The Indians acquired Shaw from Arizona in December of 2012. It was a three-team deal among the Indians, Arizona and Cincinnati. The Indians sent Shin-Soo Choo to Cincinnati and Trevor Bauer arrived in Cleveland from Arizona as the big pieces. Shaw and Matt Albers, another reliever, accompanied Bauer from Arizona. Since the deal, Shaw pitched his way into the set-up role- a role he has succeeded at. He made 70 appearances in 2013. In September, when the Indians went 21-6 to clinch an AL wild-card spot, Shaw went 5-0 and didn’t allow a run in 13 appearances covering 15 1/3 innings. In 2014 he recorded his 80th appearance in the second-to-last game of the season. Shaw’s ERA from Aug. 1 through the end of the season was 1.98.
Some of Shaw’s success could have to do with the fact that he and his wife Kristen live a short distance from the Indians’ spring training complex in Goodyear. There is year-round activity at Goodyear with players rehabbing and preparing for their various seasons. Whatever Shaw is doing it’s working. In 2014, he made consecutive appearances 27 times. In his 80 appearances, the Indians went 52-28.
This is the second season that Shaw will be arbitration eligible. It is just about certain that he will avoid arbitration and sign a one-year deal like last season. With 4.081 years worth of service time, he is not eligible for super-two status. Since his basic statistics have been stable over his career, I would expect a hefty raise over last season’s $1.55 million deal.
Matt Schwartz’s salary arbitration projection has Shaw valued at $2.8 million so a one-year agreement should be expected somewhere in-between. For entertainment purposes, let’s meet in the middle and say Shaw will be paid $2 million for his service next season.
This is more than a bargain for a back-end reliever who has consistently shown that he can get hitters out in high-leverage situations before handing the ball to Cody Allen. As evidenced by the Kansas City Royals bullpen success, having a strong back-end of the bullpen is a key to both getting to the post-season and going deep in it.
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