Before his trade from the Los Angeles Angels to the Cleveland Indians, Clevinger was a right-handed starting pitcher that had yet to make good on the potential that made him a fourth-round pick in the 2011 draft.  His progression was slowed by Tommy John surgery in 2012 and he struggled to maintain consistent velo upon his return in 2013 and into 2014.  When he came to the Indians halfway through that 2014 season, he was seen as more of an arm-strength project – he has always had shown the ability to get some swing and miss with his stuff, but limiting the walks was one big issue that continued throughout 2014, which was his first full season post-TJ surgery (27 free passes over 55.1 IP with High A Inland Empire pre-trade and 11 BB over 20.1 IP post-trade).

The 2015 season, however, was a different story, and also a testament to Cleveland’s player development staff, as Clevenger’s walks per nine innings dropped from 3.9 in 2014 to 2.3 in 2015, paired with 145 Ks  over 158 IP.  His stellar 2015 performance pushed him to towards the top of Cleveland’s prospect list, and had the organization thinking about him joining the big league club in 2016.

While there has been some regression in his SO/BB numbers across his first seven starts this year for the CLippers (4.3 BB/9), what he showed on May 11th versus the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, a start I reviewed on video,  was encouraging.  He cruised through four innings, pumping in first pitch strikes to the majority of his hitters.  His four-seam fastball is straight and flat, but does have life in the strike zone and gets some ride when up.

Clevinger’s long, lanky frame helps him create decent angle and he will get some two-seam tail to glove side on occasion.  He has a short arm in back that works to hide it a bit and it does seem to get on hitters, however, he will have to locate in the strike-zone better at the next level to be successful.  He showed a quick hand and feel for spin on both his breaking balls; the slider is his out pitch and showed three-quarters depth with late bite and he looked comfortable using it to both righties and lefties.  He can subtract a bit and throw it for strikes, but his best one is down and out of the zone for put-away.

The curveball has 12-to-6 break with snap and not a lot of hump.  It comes out on a similar plane to the slider and he showed slightly better ability to locate here than with the slider.  He also mixed in a changeup with some gradual arm-side fade.  The arm speed plays it up a bit, but it looks like probably his fourth offering.  It looks like he still has the tendency to lose the plate at times, but his stuff gives him some margin for error, and so long as he can continue the K:BB rates he showed in 2015, he stands to make a meaningful contribution to the Indian’s rotation at some point this summer. – Dave DeFreitas

Ed Note: Clevenger got the call to the big leagues on Wednesday May 18th,  going 5.1 IP and giving up 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB and striking out five, getting a ND in the Indians’ 8-7 extra-inning win over the Reds.