In each of the past few seasons, the Indians have looked into low risk, high reward options for bolstering their starting rotation. The team has seen varied results with their signings that have included Scott Kazmir, Brett Myers and most recently, Gavin Floyd. The levels of success with these free agents has varied.
Kazmir helped the Indians to a Wild Card appearance in 2013. He finished the year with a record of 10-9 and a 4.04 ERA. He started 29 games for the Tribe that year, not bad for a guy who found himself completely out of Major League Baseball for most of 2011 and all of 2012.
The Myers experiment in 2013 did not fare nearly as well as the Kazmir one did. Myers was signed in the off-season for a small price of $7 million for one year. He was then placed on the disabled list for the Indians on April 20 of that year and hasn’t pitched since. He went 0-3 for the Tribe, with a horrific 8.02 ERA.
The Gavin Floyd era was much more like the Brett Myers experience than the Scott Kazmir period.
Floyd, 32, spent much of this season on the Indians’ 60-Day disabled list following a third career surgery on his right elbow. After spending the majority of the summer rehabbing from the March 21 surgery, Floyd did manage to make seven appearances out of the bullpen after being called up to the Indians on September 1. In his limited action this year Floyd allowed four runs in eleven innings over seven appearances.
When I had the opportunity to speak with Floyd late in the season while he was rehabbing at AA Akron he had good things to say about his rehab and journey back from his third surgery.
“It’s been feeling great ever since I’ve started throwing. It feels really strong. It’s nice to actually get into games and get in situations and scenarios that you can’t replicate in bullpens. It feels really good.”
Many think that Floyd was rehabbing and pitching in September for an opportunity to return next season.
The question at hand is, ‘Did he do enough?’
The answer certainly is not as simple as the question.
Yes, Floyd was moderately effective when he did pitch late in the season out of the bullpen. In the same token, is being moderately effective in a short stretch good enough to be brought back, because I certainly don’t think it is.
With an already extremely crowded rotation, where would Floyd fit in? The Indians have three very good starters in Kluber, Carrasco, and Salazar, along with three others that very well could find themselves deserving in Cody Anderson, Trevor Bauer, and a resurgent Josh Tomlin.
I think at this point the Indians should end the low-risk, high-reward experiments with starting pitching, at this point, it isn’t worth it.
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