The Indians are still dealing with the great Justin Masterson mystery. On Monday night, Cleveland looked no closer to solving it.
In the opener of a four-game series with the Yankees, Masterson’s persistent problems on the mound continued, putting Cleveland in an early hole, wearing out the bullpen and sending the Tribe on its way to a 5-3 loss at Progressive Field. Rookie right-hander Shane Greene did his part for New York, carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning in his first Major League start.
Any signs of Masterson pulling himself out of his slump were missing from his latest effort.
“The other 24 guys are just fighting for me,” Masterson said. “And you feel like, even though I’m putting forth as much effort as I can, you’re letting down your guys.”
Throughout Masterson’s recent woes — covering most of the past two months — his command has wavered and the pitcher revealed recently that he has fought a right knee issue at times. Cleveland has insisted that the right-hander is fine physically, making the continued troubles on the hill extremely enigmatic.
In the immediate aftermath of the Tribe’s latest loss, Indians manager Terry Francona did not have much to say about the team’s plan for tackling Masterson’s struggles. Before detailing how Cleveland might handle things with Masterson, the manager said he and pitching coach Mickey Callaway needed to first sit down and discuss the situation with the pitcher.
“I don’t think we want to make decisions literally five minutes after the game,” Francona said. “We’ll sit and talk to Masty. I think that’s the first thing to do. … That’s really all I have.”
Against New York, Masterson again sat in the 88-91-mph range with his fastball after regularly hitting 96-97 mph as Cleveland’s rotation leader and workhorse a year ago. Over his past three starts, the sinkerballer has thrown nearly as many balls (109) as strikes (121) across only nine combined innings for the Indians (43-45).
Masterson has a 13.00 ERA over his last three starts, a 9.50 ERA over his past five turns and a 7.16 ERA in his last 11 outings, dating back to May 13. His nine starts with at least five runs allowed are currently the most such games among American League starters. Over the recent five-start stretch, Masterson has given up 19 runs on 27 hits with 17 walks in 18 innings (roughly 3 2/3 innings per start).
“It hasn’t just been tonight,” Masterson said. “It’s been the last few. That’s the frustrating part.”
If the Indians do consider a trip to the disabled list for Masterson, who has noted that his knee has bothered him since his second start of the season, the top two options at Triple-A Columbus are right-handers Zach McAllister and Danny Salazar. Both of those pitchers began this season in the Opening Day rotation.
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