CLEVELAND — Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Mike Clevinger continues his journey back to Major League Baseball tonight, as he will suit up for the franchise’s Double-A affiliate, the Akron RubberDucks, against the Hartford Yard Goats at Canal Park in Akron.
Tuesday’s start will mark Clevinger’s second rehab assignment, as he began his road back to the Indians’ rotation with an appearance at Triple-A Columbus last week. Clevinger allowed four runs, all earned, on three hits and two walks against four strikeouts in two innings of work with the Clippers.
Clevinger has been working his way through an upper back injury since early April, when he was placed on the 60-day injured list.
Before being shelved with the injury, Clevinger made two starts and allowed only two hits, four walks and no earned runs against 22 strikeouts in 12 innings of work for the Indians. Clevinger is 1-0 on the season with a 0.00 earned run average.
Last season, Clevinger emerged as a permanent fixture in the starting rotation, logging 200.0 innings of work in his 32 appearances. Clevinger allowed 164 hits, 67 earned runs and 67 walks while striking out 207 hitters on his way to a 13-8 record.
Clevinger made MLB history in his final home start of the season when he became the fourth Indians pitcher with 200 strikeouts in the same season. No other team ever has had four pitchers with 200 or more strikeouts in the same year.
The 2018 season marked the second time in as many years that Clevinger posted a double-digit win total, as he won 12 games in 2017.
In 78 games, including 65 starts, over four years with the Indians, Clevinger is 29-17 (.630 winning percentage) with a 3.26 ERA over 386.2 innings of work. Clevinger has registered 416 strikeouts against 308 hits, 140 earned runs, 42 home runs and 160 walks allowed.