The Indians just can’t seem to catch a break with their starting rotation. Corey Kluber, who has started the 2017 season slowly, left his most recent start after just three innings due to back pain. Before leaving the game, Kluber had allowed five runs on seven hits, raising his season ERA to 5.06.
Cleveland has started slowly in their AL title defense, and the starting pitching has been all to blame. Only Carlos Carrasco has pitched well on a consistent basis. Danny Salazar has had hit moments and has struck out 13.0 per nine. He has also walked an unsightly 4.3 per nine. Trevor Bauer’s ERA is touching 8.00, while Josh Tomlin’s is close to 9.00. Regardless of how great the offense has been, the Indians will not take off until their starting pitching figures things out.
The pitching wheels may be about to fall off for the young Colorado staff. After pitching well for most of the entire month of April, the Rockies gave up 46 runs in a four-game series against the Washington Nationals. Sure, the Nats have one of the best offenses in MLB, but that’s still way too many runs to give up in four straight games.
Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland continue to pitch very well, but Tyler Chatwood and Tyler Anderson have ugly ERAs after six starts. Top prospect German Marquez was bombed by the Nationals for eight runs in his MLB debut but responded nicely with six shutout innings in his second start against Arizona. The Rockies will continue to put up runs at a dizzying clip, but if their pitching staff continues receding, they will find their record getting and staying much closer to .500.