A tumultuous day for the Cleveland Indians ended with a victory Thursday night, as they beat the Boston Red Sox 5-3, their second win in a row after snapping their 11-game losing streak. The game came just hours after the Indians announced the firing of pitching coach Scott Radinsky.
Ruben Niebla, the pitching coach at Class AAA Columbus, was appointed the interim pitching coach. The change was not totally unexpected, given the dismal performance by Cleveland’s pitchers this season.
In the 11-game losing streak, the starting pitchers were a combined 0-8 with a 10.44 ERA. For the season overall, Indians pitchers have a 4.74 ERA, which ranks 13th in the American League. The starting pitchers’ 5.11 ERA ranks 12th in the league.
Radinsky, who was in his first year on the job, became the casualty of those bloated numbers.
“We were expecting, especially our starting rotation, to be better,” manager Manny Acta said. “That’s not all on Scott. He can’t go out there and pitch for these guys. Certainly we expected some of the guys to take a step forward, but that didn’t happen.”
Radinsky replaced Tim Belcher, the pitching coach last year who voluntarily stepped down after the season. This year, the staff has been very inconsistent. Nos. 1 and 2 starters Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez have a combined record of 17-21.
The other three pitchers who were starters when the season began are no longer in the rotation. Derek Lowe was released last week, and Josh Tomlin was moved to the bullpen last week. Jeanmar Gomez was demoted to Columbus prior to the All-Star break.
The challenge for Niebla over the last two months of the season will be to coax more consistent performances from Masterson and Jimenez while continuing to develop rotation newcomers Corey Kluber and Zach McAllister. The other starter is Chris Seddon, but he will likely be replaced by Roberto Hernandez, who will be activated next week after he finishes serving a three-week suspension from Major League Baseball for identity fraud.