Clevinger’s transformation complete — and just in time

CLEVELAND — With shoulder-length hair shooting out from underneath his cap, Mike Clevinger was a wild horse when he joined the Indians a couple seasons ago. The Tribe had a promising prospect on its hands, but one who also would be a long-term project and whose success would be reliant on his complete buy-in.

Two years later, Clevinger is pitching in critical games for Cleveland, and the rookie could soon be tested on the October stage.

“You see the smile on my face, right?” Ruben Niebla, the Indians’ Minor League pitching coordinator, said on Monday morning.

Clevinger’s rise to the Indians’ rotation is a rewarding tale for the organization’s player development staff, but the right-hander’s ascension has also been out of circumstance. Over the past week, the Indians have lost starters Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco to season-ending injuries. Earlier this year, Cody Anderson’s struggles knocked him out of the starting staff.

As the Indians work to clinch their first division crown in nine years, Clevinger is being counted on in a rotation that has been reduced to Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin and the untested rookie. Should Cleveland complete that task, then Clevinger will be thrust into a similar position as rookie Jaret Wright in 1997. After 16 starts in the regular season, Wright helped push the Tribe to the World Series.

The more he pitches, the more Clevinger feels ready to tackle the challenge ahead.

“It’s going to be …

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