Terry Francona keeping Cody Allen as Cleveland closer, Andrew Miller in setup role
Andrew Miller may be the Cleveland Indians’ best reliever, but he won’t be closing games for them to start 2017.
Manager Terry Francona said Saturday that Cody Allen remains the team’s closer, with Miller and Bryan Shaw serving as the bridge to get leads to the 9th inning.
Francona said Allen is his closer today. Still plans on matching up with relievers, but likes idea of having Allen in mind as the end point.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 18, 2017
At first glance, this looks odd, but the Indians have great bullpen depth and are taking full advantage of it. Cleveland used Miller as a relief ace to great success in the 2016 postseason, and while the daily grind of a 162-game season wouldn’t permit them to do that all the time, they can still mix and match and use him against the most dangerous parts of other teams’ lineups. It’ll work great as long as he doesn’t pull a Buck Showalter and cling to bullpen roles too tightly.
