According to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, Indians starting pitcher Danny Salazar has been cleared to pitch in the World Series for the Tribe.
[protected-iframe id=”eb081814b2c820e52971322210c5a5b9-114320562-107853376″ info=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” class=”twitter-tweet”]The Indians all-star right hander has missed quite a bit of time this season with various right arm ailments that started in his shoulder back in June (originally announced on June 6th) and culminating in a forearm strain that cost him the end of the season after being pulled early from a game on September 9th.
Salazar will replace Cody Anderson (who did not pitch in the ALDS or ALCS) on the 25 man roster in the Indians only change from the League Championship round with Toronto. At the moment, we don’t know how Terry Francona is planning on using Salazar if at all and it could depend on the situation and change day by day.
For now, the starting rotation is scheduled to be Corey Kluber against Jon Lester in game one, Trevor Bauer against Jake Arrieta in game two and Josh Tomlin against Kyle Hendricks in game three. While the Cubs have announced John Lackey for game four (and thus likely Lester in game five, Arrieta in six and Hendricks in seven should the series go beyond four), the Indians have not announced a starter.
Bauer is essentially the pivotal piece in this whole situation in addition to reaction to going ahead or getting behind early in the series. Should Bauer pitch his normal 6-7 innings in game two, the bullpen should be well rested enough to throw Salazar or Ryan Merritt as the starter in game four. If a similar situation to the ALCS happens where Bauer (or Tomlin) is unable to stay in a game for at least five innings, they could decide to use Kluber in game four, hoping he would be back for a potential game seven as well. In this situation, game five would almost certainly have to be Salazar or Merritt showing how fluid the situation is for now.
The question beyond when Salazar would pitch is if he can pitch. The Indians say he is throwing 100% and Salazar has said he is pain free and able to throw all his pitches. This is great news for the Indians, especially if they are looking for him to start a game at some point. If he could get into a game and throw around 70 pitches as Bastian quoted, it could be like he never left.
However, it could also be like he pitched at the end of the season. The chart below breaks down Salazar’s season into three parts, the first before his first shoulder injury, the second from then until he dealt with the forearm issue and the final his two starts before hitting the DL and all those after:
| Date Range | G | ERA | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | AVG |
| 4/8-6/6 | 11 | 2.24 | 68.1 | 10.7 | 4.4 | .183 |
| 6/12-7/19 | 7 | 3.56 | 43 | 9.2 | 2.9 | .250 |
| 7/26-9/9 | 7 | 8.65 | 26 | 12.5 | 5.5 | .327 |
During that middle section, there is no question he was dealing with some discomfort, but his results were still exceptional. Obviously, the first two time periods were good enough to get him an All-Star selection this year, but the injuries he suffered were severe enough to keep him from playing in said game.
The more recent forearm injury had a much more significant effect. Gone was the control, leading to more balls well out of the zone and right down the middle. His velocity never significantly changed this season, staying at about 95 MPH on the fastball and 87 MPH on his change, but he was no longer able to place the pitches where he preferred.
He has since rehabbed in Arizona, Cleveland and Toronto and threw a simulated game on Sunday. If he wasn’t ready to return, there is no chance the Indians would have placed him on the 25 man roster. This isn’t about good feelings, it’s about putting the best team on the field possible to win their first World Series since 1948. If everything goes well, Salazar could be a huge part of that.
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