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Clevinger named Tribe’s fifth starter for now
- Updated: September 8, 2016
CLEVELAND — The Indians have named a fifth starter — kind of.
Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Astros, Indians manager Terry Francona announced that rookie Mike Clevinger will slot into the rotation’s fifth spot for Saturday’s start against the Twins. Clevinger is not stretched out to handle a typical starter’s workload, though, so Josh Tomlin will remain available behind him in the bullpen.
“We’ve also talked to him about approaching it like [coming out of the] bullpen,” said Francona, referring to Clevinger. “Do your [pregame] stuff with the relievers, your throwing. Then, when the game starts, just prepare for it like you’re coming into a normal game, like it’s the fifth inning. We want to keep him on one routine.”
The decision to start Clevinger came after Francona met on Tuesday with pitching coach Mickey Callaway and Chris Antonetti, the team’s president of baseball operations, to discuss the fifth-starter situation. In the wake of Tomlin’s second-half struggles, Cleveland used a “bullpen day” on Monday and has been weighing …
