GOODYEAR, Ariz.: The Indians have a number of options for filling out their bullpen to start the regular season. The time to make those decisions is drawing near.
As it stands, six relievers currently have spots locked up in the Opening Day bullpen — Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw, Boone Logan, Dan Otero and Zach McAllister.
The seventh spot is up for grabs. And as it relates to the early part of the season, it’s possible the Indians will carry an eighth reliever who can break camp with the big-league club if Carlos Carrasco opens the season on the 10-day disabled list. The Indians might not need a fifth starter until April 15.
Shawn Armstrong, Carlos Frias, Nick Goody, Joe Colon and lefties Kyle Crockett and Tyler Olson are all in the mix for the seventh and potentially eighth spots.
The Indians do have flexibility with this group of pitchers. All six have at least one option remaining, and Colon has two, affording the Indians the chance to retain depth at the Triple-A level without exposing the four or five pitchers who don’t make the major-league club to waivers.
“There are going to be some guys who don’t make this team, that if you just go on what they’ve done this spring training, they’d make the team,” manager Terry Francona said. “We’re not going to carry 18 pitchers, even though I’d love it. We’re going to have some tough conversations and we know that.”
Armstrong appears to have the best standing of any pitcher in that group. He has little to prove above Triple-A, having thrown 103⅔ innings at that level across three seasons. Last season at Triple-A, he posted a 1.84 ERA and struck out 72 batters in 49 innings. This spring, he’s allowed just four hits and struck out nine in 9⅓ innings.
Armstrong threw two scoreless innings in his last Cactus League appearance, a positive sign considering the Indians could find some added value in another pitcher capable of throwing multiple innings.
“[Armstrong] has done everything you can ask,” Francona said. “Regardless of how this goes on Opening Day, we were very pleased with how he’s gone about it, how he’s pitched. Everything. We see him maturing right in front of our eyes and we’re very excited about that.”
Frias and Goody were acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, respectively, over the offseason. Both have had positive springs as well. Frias, who had his 2016 season ended with a right oblique impingement, has allowed two earned runs on six hits to go with two strikeouts in five innings entering Saturday. Goody, in nine innings, has allowed just one run on four hits and struck out nine.
Francona called both “intriguing” options on Saturday. Frias in part because he can be stretched out to pitch multiple innings and Goody because of his above-average slider.
“[Frias] can be stretched out and he can be dominating against right-handers at times. There’s so much to like,” Francona said. “It’s just another guy we have to try to determine, is he ready enough? Are you doing him a disservice by taking him on Opening Day? … When [Goody] can get to that breaking ball, he’s got a lot of [Jeff] Manship in him where they might think it’s coming and they’re still not hitting it.”
Colon was roughed up in Cactus League play before leaving to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. But his evaluation will likely come down more to how he looks this final week and his overall resume rather than his inflated spring ERA.
“Before he left he was having a tough time, but that doesn’t mean — we’ve had guys who have had tough times early and toward the end you see what they are,” Francona said. “Like Anthony Swarzak, I remember his first 3-4 outings were just horrendous. But later in camp you saw what he was capable of. ... That’s part of why we tell the guys the first day, don’t waste your energy trying to figure out [the situation]. We’ll do that.”
Of the two lefties, Crockett likely has the upper hand over Olson, as he’s already on the 40-man roster and has had a strong spring, owning a 3.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts in nine innings.
“When he has rest, when he has two days of rest, he’s just lights out,” Francona said of Crockett. “When it’s less, those have been [the instances] when he’s not had quite as clean innings. So, [pitching coach Mickey Callaway] has been kind of going back and forth with [bullpen coach Jason Bere] and the guys, because you can’t ensure that during the year.
“But, we’re trying to figure out, ‘OK, what’s the meaning behind it? What can we do differently?’ Because there’s been some outings where it’s like, bam, bam, bam. It’s been pretty good.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ.