Indians: There is no excuse for Zach Plesac injuring himself

Indians pitcher Zach Plesac injured himself by “aggressively” taking off his shirt.

Zach Plesac may need to rethink things. One of the better starting pitchers for the Cleveland Indians in 2021, Plesac finds himself on the DL after breaking his thumb when he ripped off a shirt he was wearing, causing him to smack his hand into a chair. It happened after he was pulled from Sunday’s game against Minnesota where Plesac gave up five runs (three earned) and lasted just 3.2 innings.

The injury may not be a big deal to some, but the Indians’ rotation isn’t deep or effective like it was last year. A few missed starts by one player could be a problem. Now there will be people who defend him, and want to act like this is no big deal but injuring yourself because you’re angry is not a good sign. There’s nothing wrong with being upset that you had a bad day, there is something wrong that you ended up hurting yourself, and in turn, your team, because you were mad.

That’s a bad sign. It’s not even one that can be “explained away” with the typical “it’s just one incident” because it’s actually his third in a year.

Zach Plesac has a questionable history of making good choices.

Plesac broke his thumb because he was angry that he had a bad day. Not a great look. Made even worse after antics last summer. During the height of the pandemic, Plesac, and former teammate Mike Clevinger broke league and team rules to go party in Chicago. It does not matter what you think of the pandemic rules, when your bosses give you rules to abide you need to follow them.

Then, showing very little integrity, both men lied about being out, and put their teammates at risk. When they were found out, they played it off as no big deal and were sent back to Cleveland in a rental car.

Plesac, learning nothing about the severity of the situation, then posted an Instagram video of him driving around Cleveland, without a seatbelt on, addressing the controversy. Never mind it’s illegal to not have a seatbelt on when driving, it’s also illegal to use your phone in Cleveland while driving. During the whole video, he then blamed the media and fans for the whole ordeal, making it seem like it was their fault he was breaking rules and disrespecting his teammates.

The Indians didn’t agree and sent him to the alternate training site along with Clevinger for a few weeks until a decision was made to trade Clevinger.

Plesac has some clear issues with taking responsibility for his actions. It’s ok to make mistakes and it’s ok to have a bad day at work, but being so caught up with your anger that you aren’t taking into account the things around you is not a good sign.

Plesac needs to realize the “he’s young, it was only a mistake” argument stops being effective when it’s not one mistake. He’s 26. He’s an adult. A full-grown, fully mature adult. It’s time to stop throwing temper tantrums every time something doesn’t go his way. This team is counting on him, and it’s time to step up and do better in expressing his emotions in a healthy and constructive way.