All-Time Indians: Paul Assenmacher

The Indians first true LOOGY (Left-Handed One Out Guy) and still the best at what he did, Paul Assenmacher joined the Tribe in 1995, having just about the best timing in baseball history.

Assenmacher was undrafted, originally signed by the Atlanta Braves as a free agent in 1983 and he played there through 1989 after making his debut in 1986. Not always a specialist, he actually faced more right handers than left handers in his first year actually had better numbers across the board against right handed hitters. After facing more than twice as many right handed batters in his rookie year, he would ultimately make up much of that distance facing 1,364 lefties in his career compared to 2,300 righties.

In 1989, he was moved to the Cubs after the trade deadline in exchange for Kelly Mann and Pat Gomez, then after a few solid seasons in Chicago where he was used in an average of 73 games per full season, he was traded again, this time to the Yankees. After half a season in New York, he was moved for the last time going to the White Sox for Brian Boehringer for his final year under contract.

As a free agent, Assenmacher chose to join the Cleveland Indians in 1995, the best choice he could have possibly made as Mike Hargrove‘s match-up style allowed him to continue his career until he was 38 years old. For Assenmacher, his first year in Cleveland was his best. He got into 47 games, but only pitched 38.1 innings, striking out more than 9 batters per 9 innings for just the third time in his career. He held left handers to an incredible line of .177/.227/.226 line and even with his failures against right handers, still held an ERA of 2.82.

He would make it to the post-season that year for the second time in his career (he pitched poorly in two appearances with the Cubs in 1989) and he would be outstanding. Used even more selectively than in the regular season, Assenmacher pitched 4.1 innings across 10 games, striking out eight and allowing just one hit and one earned run.

The following season was more of the same for Assenmacher as he pitched in 63 games but only 46.2 innings. While his split numbers were closer than the previous year, he didn’t face as many right handers (108 PA vs RHB, 93 PA vs LHB), and he finished with another solid ERA near 3.00. While the Indians didn’t advance far in the postseason in 1996, he was still excellent, throwing 1.2 hitless, scoreless innings across three games against Baltimore in the ALDS.

1997 was a contract year for Assenmacher and he would have his last great season for the last great Indians team of the 1990’s. He lowered his ERA below 3.00 for the last time at the age of 36, had a perfect 5-0 win-loss record and got into a career high 75 games. At the time, this was the second most an Indians pitcher had ever been used, although it has since been surpassed multiple times. He also struck out more than one per inning (9.7 K/9) for the final time. This would be his worst season in the play-offs, but once the World Series came around, he was as good as ever. Against the Marlins, he pitched four innings in five games, striking out six and allowing no runs. Of course, it was not him pitching at the pivotal time in game seven. He did throw in that final game, however, earning his sixth hold of the 1997 postseason thanks to a scoreless 0.2 inning appearance.

After the disappointing finish to 1997, Assenmacher had one last good season left. He pitched in 69 games including 22 games where he only faced left handers. Surprisingly, he was actually better against right handers this year, yet Hargrove was completely set in his ways by this point and would never consider using him differently. This went into another impressive set of play-offs as Assenmacher struck out five in three shut out innings (just two hits allowed) across six games against the Red Sox and Yankees.

The left hander had signed a two year deal going into 1998 and the final year of this deal would be his final year in baseball. No longer dominant against all batters, he still held left handers to a .227 average despite his 8.18 ERA in 33 innings (55 games). This was his first ERA above 3.30 for the Indians and his first above 4.15 in the 1990’s. He was allowed to remain on the roster for the whole year, although he wasn’t used very often and for the first time ever, he let down the Indians in the play-offs, allowing five hits and three runs in his only inning pitched against Boston.

For his Indians career, Assenmacher has some interesting numbers, particularly that he pitched less innings per game than any other Indian with at least 100 innings, averaging two outs per appearance. It is unfortunate that holds weren’t counted until late in his career as a pitcher who stayed around as long as he did and was as successful in important situations would have racked up a ton. For the post-season, we can look back and see that he had nine, but even more impressively, he leads all Indians ever in play-off K/9 at 16.32 (next best is Paul Shuey at 10.78) and is fourth in total strike outs (35) behind three starting pitchers, Charles Nagy, Orel Hershiser and Jaret Wright. With 34 games across five seasons, no Indians pitcher has played as many play-off games as Paul Assenmacher.

In the end, it was a perfect match. The Indians were a great team with a solid bullpen, so they were able to utilize Assenmacher in the most efficient way possible. For Assenmacher, he was able to dominate in the play-offs in a way he never could have with the Cubs or White Sox. He wound up pitching in more games than any other pitcher in the 1990’s (tied with Mike Jackson). Following his retirement after the 1999 season, Assenmacher became a high school pitching coach.