CLEVELAND: The Indians’ wounded pitching staff added a few more stitches to it Friday.
Trevor Bauer has been pushed back to start Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Monday after he needed 10 stitches to close a laceration on the top of his right pinkie finger. He cut his hand while doing “routine maintenance” on his drone.
Josh Tomlin will now start Game 2 on Saturday for the Indians.
“I think we’ve all probably at some point or another had a drone-related problem,” Indians manager Terry Francona joked, and after all the injuries to Tribe pitchers, the only thing left to do is laugh.
Already forced to play this postseason without Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco, the Indians can ill afford to lose another starter. For now, they believe disaster has been averted. They had enough off days after sweeping the Boston Red Sox that Francona was able to simply flip Tomlin and Bauer in the rotation.
Tomlin will now be throwing on regular rest rather than having an extra day off, while the Indians have to hope the additional two days will allow Bauer’s finger to heal enough that it won’t bleed on the mound Monday.
Bleeding is the main concern at this point. Bauer won’t be able to wear a bandage over the finger while he’s pitching, and if it begins to bleed, he’ll have to leave the game. That’s why Dr. Thomas Graham, a hand specialist, and Indians officials are hopeful the extra time off will allow the wound enough time to heal.
“As long as Trevor is OK, in the grand scheme of things, all it is is us flip-flopping them,” Francona said. “We have to win four games, anyway. And they were going to pitch twice.”
Bauer often posts videos online of his drone flying and has called it one of his biggest interests. The league has gone back and forth with Bauer about when and where he can fly his drones while inside major-league facilities. Now, it appears like those drones could play a role in the ALCS.
“This was not malicious,” Francona said. “I mean, he could have been opening a box in the kitchen. Things happen. I wish it wouldn’t have, but it wasn’t done being silly. Just happened.”
Tomlin will now start at home and Bauer on the road, while Bauer is now in line to pitch a deciding Game 7 if the series extends that far.
Tomlin started twice against the Blue Jays during the regular season and fared much better at Rogers Centre than he did at home. He started that memorable 19-inning win at Toronto.
“This isn’t the first obstacle we’ve had to overcome,” Tomlin said. “So face it head-on. And we’ve talked about it since day one of spring training, we’re never going to back down from a challenge. This is another challenge for us to accept and move forward.”
In a worst-case scenario, if Bauer’s hand needs more time to heal, Francona said he could push Mike Clevinger up for Game 3 or start rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt, who was added to the ALCS roster in place of catcher Chris Gimenez even before Bauer’s injury.
“They have basically 3½ days. This really shouldn’t be an issue,” Francona said. “I think he’s going to be fine.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians.