Video: Salazar to be left off ALCS Roster

The Indians announced Wednesday that, despite making every effort to get back from his right forearm injury, Danny Salazar will not be ready to pitch in the ALCS. He has not completely recovered and has been told not to throw any breaking pitches as they have caused further discomfort and the Indians certainly don’t want to risk losing him for even longer by pushing his limits. With just a fastball and change, Salazar could still be a devastating force out of the bullpen, which was the original plan when the season ended, but he is unable to throw those pitches 100% either, so he will sit out at least one more round.

I was lucky enough to see Salazar pitch on Thursday afternoon against a Korean team constructed of players from the SK Wyverns and the Kia Tigers. The video below shows his warm up throws prior to the first inning.

In the game, he was obviously limiting his own output and it showed in his results as he had a very hard time putting away the limited number of batters he faced. The first batter he faced, Cho Yong Ho, walked after a lengthy at bat where Salazar was throwing strikes, but couldn’t get anything by the big lefty. This isn’t a complete demerit against Salazar as no one else could get Ho out as he hit a triple and double in his next two at bats. The second batter slapped a hard single to left to put two on. Salazar struck out his third opponent with a wicked change, then retired one more with a pop out before being removed from the game.

The next pitcher, Leandro Linares, let in both of Salazar’s runners, but this league doesn’t count stats or wins, so the fact that the Indians lost 3-2 is irrelevant. What’s much more important is the fact that Salazar is not capable of throwing at 100%, meaning his fast ball is significantly slower than normal. Without his normal velocity in the low 90’s, he would have an extremely hard time getting batters out at the Major League level. He had a hard time getting batters out in this instructional league game and, while no offense is meant, this Korean team was far from Major League quality (they did play excellent defense and had a couple really impressive pitchers).

If the Indians need a right handed fastball specialist to pitch an inning or two in the ALCS, they would be much better off with a pitcher who has been a fastball only specialist for years, Zach McAllister. While he didn’t pitch in the three ALDS games, McAllister had a good season, particularly from July 31st on when he held a 1.50 ERA and struck out 26 in 25.2 innings. His season long numbers are marred by a few really poor appearances, one of which did come against Toronto on July 2nd. Only a few days after this appearance he was put on the DL, however, and when he came back he pitched a scoreless inning against the Blue Jays on August 20th with two strike outs.

Given the fact that Salazar has always been a high risk player for injury after having Tommy John, there is no reason to push him any further. McAllister, Jeff Manship and the rest of the bullpen have had their roles established all season and it would be a mistake to rush Salazar back prematurely while simultaneously trying to turn him into something he’s never been, a two pitch reliever. Shutting him down for the rest of the year right now and letting him heal is simply the most logical solution.