What the Indians Do Next with Clevinger and Plesac Could Define Their 2020 Season

Tuesday night’s 7-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Progressive Field probably shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise as it did based on the distractions the team faced from Sunday morning till the first pitch of Tuesday’s affair.

Everyone knows the story by now, two of the Indians starting five, Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger were placed on the restricted list after going out in Chicago Saturday night, a plain violation of team rules.

Plesac owned up to the indiscretion, while Clevinger sat during a team meeting and reportedly defended Plesac, never giving any indication that he too was in violation of the team’s conduct code.

The team has spoken about it, from team president Chris Antonetti, to manager Terry Francona, to a pair of players in Francisco Lindor and pitcher Adam Plutko.

The question now is a pretty simple one - what should the Indians do next?

There are plenty of fans on social media who think that neither Plesac or Clevinger should be welcome back to the franchise once the team decides to take them off the restricted list.

The next decision the Indians make could define not only this season, but the franchise moving forward.

The team traded away two starters in the last 13 months in Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber, and while Kluber was dealt more for his price tag as well as age and wear, there’s no doubt that Bauer’s conduct had something to do with his being traded.

Can the team afford to trade ⅖’s of its starting rotation again?

Do they even have a choice?

If there’s one thing that Francona and this team have been about over the last nine seasons it’s trying to maintain character within the clubhouse.

They haven’t always been successful, but when a player gets out of line, it usually doesn’t take too long for management and fellow players to get that player back in line.

That’s asking a lot of the situation with Plesac and Clevinger, two players who the franchise felt they would be building around for years to come.

Maybe the hard feelings of what the pair did will go away in due time, but until there it just feels there’s quite a bit of tension around the organization with a lot of it directed at Clevinger, who not only lied, but then didn’t speak out when he had the chance.

The harshest words from the situation with Plesac and Clevinger came from teammate Plutko, who stated that the two guilty players not only lied but that earning back the trust of the team will not be an easy task.

"They hurt us bad. They lied to us,” Plutko said Tuesday night.

“They sat here and publicly said things they didn’t follow through on. I’ll let them sit here and tell you how they’re gonna earn our trust back. I don’t need to put words in their mouths.”

That doesn’t sound like someone who is ready to just accept the two players back on the team with no ill will.

At the end of the day, it’ll be the call of the front office and coaching staff on what direction to take with Clevinger and Plesac.

The team also has decided that Clevinger won’t start this weekend in Detroit, giving another start to Plutko who did what he could Tuesday night against the Cubs in going four innings allowing one run.

It’s unlikely that the Indians would actually shop around either pitcher, as despite their actions over the weekend they are still a major part of this team and the direction they want to go.

On the other hand, it would not be a surprise to see both players sit for 10-14 days to think about how they put themselves and for that matter their teammates at risk.

It’s a harsh lesson but one that must be handled as swiftly as possible by the organization.

For those that are out there proclaiming that the players simply “made a mistake,” it goes a lot deeper than that.

Just ask the other 28 players in that Indians clubhouse along with the coaching staff and front office who have had the back of their teammates all along - that is until they flat out lied about their actions.

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