Cleveland Indians: Back-End Of Rotation Cause For Concern?

Cleveland Indians starting pitchers Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer are struggling out of the gate. Is it too early to panic?

The Cleveland Indians are scuffling out of the gate — having lost six of eight games since opening the season with a sweep of the Texas Rangers. The offense has been inconsistent and the pitching is mediocre, which explains why according to ESPN.com, the Indians are ninth in the American League in run-differential (-7).

Perhaps most concerning is the back-end of the rotation. Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin have been atrocious. I realize the Indians are just 11 games into a 162-game marathon, but receiving virtually zero contribution from the back-end of the rotation is a problem.

So how bad have Bauer and Tomlin been in their combined four starts? Brace yourself, sitting down may be a wise decision when viewing their stats. According to baseball-reference.com, the two pitchers have racked up the following numbers:

Bauer: W-L: 0-2, IP: 10.2, SO: 13, BB: 2, ERA: 8.44 , WHIP: 1.59, OPP AVG.: .326

Tomlin: W-L: 0-2, IP: 6.1, SO: 6, BB: 2, ERA: 18.47 , WHIP: 2.68, OPP AVG.: .455

Combined: W-L: 0-4, IP: 17, SO: 19, BB: 4, ERA: 13.46, WHIP: 2.14

I said to brace yourself — these numbers keep manager Terry Francona awake at night. Tomlin is known to implode for short stretches during his career (just look at his numbers last August), and Bauer is Mr. Inconsistent with an attitude problem — but also has electric stuff.

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I envision either Bauer or Tomlin will be out of the rotation by the end of June. But which one?

Tomlin had a career year in 2016. The soft-throwing righty went 13-9 with a 4.40 ERA and 1.19 WHIP — while allowing the fewest walks per nine innings in the MLB (1.0). Tomlin’s first two starts this season have been bad; I mean really, really bad.

His start against the Chicago White Sox Thursday gave me instant PTSD flashbacks to his August 2016 outings. Tomlin has spent his entire eight-year career in Cleveland and has a club option for 2018 worth $3 million per baseball-reference. From 2014-2016, Tomlin made 55 starts for the Tribe, going 26-20 with a 4.24 ERA.

The 26-year-old Bauer provides the most upside, but his quirky, eccentric ways are growing old with each mediocre season. His antics with the media, drones and social media begs the question: Is the juice worth the squeeze?

From 2014-2016 Bauer made 84 starts with the Indians, where he went 28-28 with a 4.34 ERA during that span. Thankfully, in the offseason Tribe brass only committed to him on a one-year, $3.55 million contract because the squeeze is becoming too difficult for sub-par juice. NEO Sports Insiders couldn’t have said it better regarding Bauer and his work on the mound.

Trevor Bauer is always quick to say how well he executed his game plan when he gives up 6 runs. Miguel Cabrera really liked that gameplan.
— NEO Sports Insiders (@NEOSportsInside) April 15, 2017

While too early to remove a starter from the rotation, the thought has to be running through Francona’s head. I believe Bauer will be the hurler ultimately removed from the rotation, by the first day of July, if not sooner. Tomlin provides a steady, solid veteran presence to the pitching staff, while Bauer supplies soundbites, controversial tweets and inconsistency galore.

Next: Indians' Prospects Update

Bauer still holds the ability to become a dominant pitcher at the big-league level. However, there’s a reason the Arizona Diamondbacks shipped him to Cleveland just one year after selecting him in the first round. His talent is not the problem. Instead, it’s what’s between the ears. This year will be either boom or bust for Bauer and I say bust.

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