Cleveland's Starters Are Unhittable Right Now

The offensively charged Cleveland Indians have had trouble producing runs at a rate they’re capable of, but their dominant starting pitching, especially up late has made up for it and propelled them into first place in the AL Central. AL Cy Young award winner C.C. Sabathia tossed a complete game shutout last night, striking out 11 on only five hits in leading the Indians to a 2-0 victory over the A’s, their fifth win in six games. The 19-game winner from a year ago finally seems to be finding his groove for Eric Wedge, and he definitely hasn’t been the only one. Sabathia’s standout performance has become a thing to expect for the Indians, who have surprisingly emerged as baseball’s elite pitching staff.

Unbelieveable starts like Sabathia’s gem have become something of a routine for this group; a Cleveland Indians starter hasn’t allowed a run since Sabathia gave up a run-scoring single to Marco Scuataro of the Blue Jays in the fifth inning of his last start on May 9th. Since then, an entire cycle through the rotation has passed without an Indians starter giving up a single run. That’s five straight starts without an opposing offense scraping together even a single run against an Indians starting pitcher. In all, the streak has reached 43.1 consecutive innings. A team’s starting staff hasn’t had that dominant of a streak in over 30 years. It’s been an absurd string of effectiveness from a staff that was supposed to have lingering question marks at the back end of the rotation behind Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, another 19-game winner from a year who also finished fourth in the Cy Young last year.

Sabathia, 3-5, 5.47 ERA, has been Cleveland’s least productive starting pitcher to date, but even he has started catch to this pitching fever that has infested the Indians. Carmona has been wonderful as the number two, backing up the four-year, $15 million contract he signed earlier this year with a 4-1, 2.40 ERA start. The real surprise, though, has been Cliff Lee, an 18-game winner three years ago. The 29-year old left-hander has taken the mantle from Sabathia and become the league’s best pitcher through the first six weeks of the season. A surprising 6-0 start, to go with a 0.67 ERA and 11:1 strikeout to walk ratio are enough to assert that. During his turn in this impressive streak on Monday, Lee matched Sabathia by going nine innings without giving up a run. He didn’t get the win, however, as the game went into extra innings scoreless and Rafael Betancourt surrendered three runs and took the loss. Over the last five games, those have been the only runs the Indians have allowed.

It’s been a shift in philosophy for a team that’s been anchored by its offensive stars for years. This streak has run their shutout total to seven, two more than any other team in the MLB. Lee’s emergence as a terrific third starter has been a shock to say the least, given his 6.29 ERA from last year. The team’s 3.32 ERA is second in the league, an improvement by over three-quarters of a run from last year. It’s a good thing too, because the Indians’ offensive struggles have made improved pitching a necessity. Cleveland’s offense has fallen to 21st in runs scored, demonstrating the profound effect the pitching staff has had on the team.

Aaron Laffey takes the ball for the Indians as he looks to extend the streak toward the team record of 47 straight innings, set in August 1948. It will only take four innings of shutout ball for him to get there. He’s only allowed a single unearned run in his last two starts, a streak that’s lasted 14 innings, including seven shutout innings in his last appearance. With it’s pitching operating at its highest level, Cleveland will become quite a juggernaut once its offensive attack inevitably comes around.