Cleveland Indians: How the bullpen became one of MLB’s worst

What’s next?

1. The Tribe pulled off a trade for 31-year-old reliever Oliver Drake from the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s 1-0 with a 6.33 ERA. He strikes people out, fanning 15 in 12 2/3 innings.

2. The organization is rumored to be high on Evan Marshall, according to Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto.

Marshall was recently promoted from Triple-A Columbus, where the 28-year-old carried a 0.84 ERA through 10 2/3 innings. He relies on a fastball, curve and changeup combination and was hitting 96 miles per hour on the radar gun entering May 7.

3. Alexi Ogando put a buzz kill on his Indians’ debut at Yankee Stadium, reminding everyone why he spent the 2017 season pitching in career.

When Ogando last pitched in a big-league uniform during the 2016 campaign, control problems were his undoing, as he walked 23 in 32 innings. That trend continued in his return to the majors, as he issued three free passes in his lone inning against the Yankees.

5. Veteran Neil Ramirez has been the best reliever at Triple-A Columbus (2.93 ERA). The 29-year-old has fanned 25 in 15 1/3 innings, while walking just three.

6. Dartmouth product Cole Susler is also off to a decent start. The 28-year-old righty has pitched in Columbus for parts of the past three seasons. He’s fanned 16 in 11 innings, but has walked five. He was a 25th round pick of the Tribe in 2013.

7. Miller returning to the bullpen obviously returning makes the bullpen better, but how much heavy lifting does Terry Francona want to task his ace reliever with, especially considering his recent injury history.

8. If the farm system can’t deliver, the Tribe’s got to go looking for high-leverage solutions on the trade market because in all liklihood, the Tribe will get to the postseason, even with a crummy bullpen.

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To have a chance in October, though, the unit needs to get its act together, and no one knows that better than Francona.