Could a Three-Man Rotation Work for the Indians in a Shortened 2020 Season?

If there is one area of strength on the Cleveland Indians as they get set to embark on a shortened 60-game campaign, it’s that of their starting rotation.

As the team looked ahead to their 2020 season before the covid-19 pandemic shut down all major sports in the US and elsewhere, the Indians starting five that seemed in place was as good as any in the American League, maybe in all of baseball.

The starting five seemed to be playing out as follows for the Tribe – Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, Carlos Carrasco, Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale.

The team also had two pitchers waiting in the wings that could easily step into a starter role if need be in Adam Plutko and Jefry Rodriguez, two pitchers who did start games for the Tribe in 2019.

Now though that the dust has settled and baseball is set to start in about a month, there’s one thing that hasn’t been brought up by many that might make perfect sense for this Indians team in a 60-game season.

Go with a three-man rotation.

Sounds odd, and the first thing people will say is “how can a team go with a three-man rotation without having to rush pitchers back out on short rest?”

Well, as stated prior, the depth of the team is their rotation, so use that fourth day to throw one of the other four pitchers that could take the mound on any given day.

So your rotation looks like this: game one Mike Clevinger, game two Shane Bieber, game three Carlos Carrasco, game four Zach Plesac.

Clevinger goes in game five, Bieber in game six, Carrasco in game seven, and in game eight you have the option to go back to Plesac, or you could throw Civale, Plutko or even Rodriguez if Terry Francona sees fit.

Let’s face it, 2020 is a season like we will have never seen, or possibly ever see again, and likely there are going to be some things that will have to happen to take a team to a championship.

Getting Clevinger, Bieber and Carrasco the most starts as possible sounds the best way to have a winning formula for the Indians, but is it too bold of a strategy for the organization to go forward with?

In a normal season a pitcher like Clevinger might have 30-33 starts, but in the case of a 60-game season with a five-man rotation he might only start say 12 games.

Having him start just three to four more games may be the difference of the Indians being a playoff team or a team on the outside looking in come October.

The beauty of a shortened rotation is it also gives the team the flexibility if one of the three top starters is off his game to go to one of the pitchers waiting in the wings that can be an insurance policy to come in and throw 5-6 innings if need be.

Before you right away dismiss such a move by the Indians, don’t forget how Francona dealt with his pitching rotation in the 2016 postseason when he had a number of injured starters and a pen that dominated.

He decided to go with the team’s biggest strength, and if he’s honest about it again in 2020, that might be the smartest way to go.

It could be a decision that very much defines how this team can be a contender in 2020, and not just an afterthought in the American League.