• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Cleveland Daily

Cleveland Sports News, Rumors & Highlights

  • Home
  • Guardians News
  • Cavs News
  • Browns News
  • Contact
  • About

Short Starts Remain A Concern For Indians Pitching Staff

By Steven Kubitza June 10, 2021 @kubitzawrites

Jean Carlos Mejia #36 of the Cleveland Indians delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning at Busch Stadium on June 9, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri.
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

 

The Cleveland Indians are returning home before the weekend following a bizarre road trip.

They did go 2-3, so it wasn’t a total disaster.

However, the trip included blowout losses to the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively.

Both wins came with the offense putting up 10 runs.

The common theme in the bad losses was not just a lack of offense.

It was young starting pitchers getting roughed up early, leaving the bullpen to handle the remainder of each game.

 

Cal Quantrill’s Rough Sunday

The ugly pitching started Sunday when Cal Quantrill took the mound.

Tough break for Cal Quantrill on that second inning rally. Gave up minimal hard contact, and only two of his batted balls allowed had a hit probability above 43%. pic.twitter.com/A9qVcCT8rr

— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) June 6, 2021

He was already on a pitch limit, but only lasted 1.1 innings and 44 pitches because he allowed five earned runs in that span.

Quantrill was fooling no one and what was already going to be a short start was made worse.

The Indians ended up losing 18-5 as both Sam Hentges and Kyle Nelson allowed five more earned runs apiece.

Hentges doing so poorly was another awful sign for his chances of staying up in Cleveland for long.

As for Quantrill, he just needs to be stretched out more if he is going to continue to be a starter.

His season-high is the 60 pitches he threw on Memorial Day against the Chicago White Sox.

However, it is obviously tough to get work in when you can’t stop runs from scoring.

 

Jean Carlos Mejia’s Short Start

Next up in this trend is Jean Carlos Mejia.

He got the start Wednesday in St. Louis and lasted 0.2 innings.

Mejia threw 38 pitches and allowed four earned runs, while also walking two batters.

Terry Francona had no choice but to pull him before the end of the first inning.

Interestingly enough, Quantrill provided two scoreless innings of relief in the game.

Coming out of the bullpen may be the best role for him, at least right now.

Mejia actually looked solid in his first start, which came last Friday in Baltimore.

He logged three scoreless innings, but was pulled after only 50 pitches.

Like Quantrill, he had a rough start after some nice showing out of the bullpen this year.

Both also have one good start to their name.

 

Remaining Patient

The Indians will go as far as Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac will take them in 2021.

Getting Plesac back as soon as possible will also help stop us from seeing so many young pitchers get forced onto the mound before they may be ready.

Quick Indians updates:

*Roberto Pérez had the pin removed from his surgically repaired finger and started throwing today. Zach Plesac will follow suit later this week.

*Terry Francona hinted that Triston McKenzie will be recalled and start on Saturday, in between Civale/Bieber.

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) June 8, 2021

Quantrill and Mejia are not going anywhere, but may benefit from a start or two in Triple-A just to get in a proper day of work.

The best option for the Indians would be making a trade for a reliable starter while the young guys continue to learn.

Even Triston McKenzie is still up-and-down this year, so getting a fourth starter in the rotation could do wonders for everyone’s confidence.

If that is not in the plans, Indians fans will be hoping one of these young guys finally settles in before it is too late.

Recent News

Luke Maile #12 and Emmanuel Clase #48 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrate a 6-5 victory in 11 innings against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on June 21, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Fans React To Guardians Being In First-Place Tie In Division
A general view as the game between the Cleveland Guardians and the Cincinnati Reds is delayed due to rain at Progressive Field on May 18, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio.
2 Players The Guardians Should Consider Trading At The Deadline
Luke Maile #12 and Emmanuel Clase #48 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrate a 5-3 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 19, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Fans React To Guardians Latest Win Over Dodgers

Filed Under: Cleveland Guardians Rumors And News (Updated Daily), Cleveland Indians News And Rumors (Updated Daily) Tagged With: cleveland indians

About Steven Kubitza

Steven has been an Indians fan since the day he was born. Lucky enough to not remember the World Series losses in the 90s, he will never forget the magic and the heartbreak of Game 7 in 2016. He wore the No. 13 playing baseball growing up because of Omar and still rocks a Cody Allen jersey for good luck.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search Cleveland Daily

Footer

Privacy Policy

Terms And Conditions

Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - ClevelandDaily.com is not affiliated with the Cleveland Indians or Major League Baseball.