CLEVELAND– On Friday, the Cleveland Indians announced that they activated LHP Andrew Miller from the 60-day Disabled List. The Indians designated RHP Zach McAllister for assignment.
The Indians have had their issues with the bullpen throughout the season. But right before the trade deadline, the Indians acquired LHP Brad Hand and RHP Adam Cimber from the San Diego Padres. Since the beginning of June, the Indians bullpen has slowly worked its way back to being one the baseball’s top bullpen.
Manager Terry Francona will have to figure out how to utilize his bullpen. This is most certainly a good problem to have. The Indians already have one of the top pitching rotations in baseball.
On most nights, you should expect to get a good five to six innings from your starters. The biggest key for Francona to figure out is who he wants to use in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.
Hand was the closer in the Padres and has already closed a couple games for the Indians. With closer Cody Allen trying to work out some of his mechanics, Francona has used both Allen and Hand in different spots. With Andrew Miller returning, Francona should continue to try different methods in figuring out where everyone fits. The Indians are 10 games ahead in first place in AL Central, and as a result, can afford to mess around with the bullpen for the time being in preparation of October baseball.
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