Indians moving Mike Clevinger to bullpen for playoffs

The Cleveland Indians are moving Mike Clevinger to the bullpen for the playoffs, manager Terry Francona announced on Saturday.

Clevinger is 11-5 with a 3.13 ERA this season, so it’s somewhat of a surprise that he won’t be in the postseason rotation. The Indians have Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and they consider Trevor Bauer to be among their top three starters. That places Clevinger behind the three. However, Francona showed last year that he will lean on his bullpen heavily during the postseason, meaning Clevinger will have plenty of opportunities to help the club.

“We plan on using him as a weapon,” Francona said of Clevinger, via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. “Just like [Bryan] Shaw, Cody [Allen], Andrew [Miller]. There’s a reason we did it. Now, nobody has a crystal ball, but that’s the reasoning.”

Clevinger pitched out of the pen at the end of last season too, though he gave up three runs pitching in relief during the playoffs.

Francona will have Clevinger move to the bullpen now so he can readjust to that role.