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Saturday, May 9, 2020

Can the Cleveland Indians rely on Hunter Wood and Phil Maton for bullpen depth in 2020? - cleveland.com

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Manager Terry Francona and the Cleveland Indians’ front office have parted ways with several key relief pitchers in the past two seasons, turning over a bullpen that was the cornerstone of three division championship runs in the last four years.

Gone are relievers who filled big roles: Tyler Clippard, Nick Goody, Dan Otero, Zach McAlister, Tyler Olson, Neil Ramirez, Cody Allen and Andrew Miller. If Cleveland is going to compete for the American League Central title again in 2020, young righties such as Hunter Wood and Phil Maton are going to have to contribute to the cause.

The Indians acquired Maton after the All-Star break in July from San Diego in exchange for international bonus slot money. Two weeks later, they traded prospect Ruben Cardenas to Tampa along with more international bonus slot money to get Wood and infielder Christian Arroyo.

Both Wood and Maton had big-league experience before joining the Indians, and both can fill a variety of roles that include eating innings and providing a bridge from the starting rotation to back-end relievers Nick Wittgren and Brad Hand. Each brings a unique style to the mix.

Wood, despite his slight 6-foot-1 frame, has more of a power profile that includes a fastball topping out at 95-96 mph. In an August matchup against Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, Wood worked ahead in the count with his fastball before showing Andrus two splitters away. He then climbed the ladder to record his first strikeout with the Indians.

Hunter Wood

Hunter Wood strikes out Elvis Andrus on a fastball.

Wood likes to work at the top of the strike zone where his fastball shows some pretty good zip. Later, in a September at-bat against Chicago rookie Eloy Jimenez, Wood again got ahead by featuring his fastball and attacking with breaking pitches. He threw back-to-back curveballs ahead in the count 1-2 and froze Jimenez for the final out of the inning.

Hunter Wood

Hunter Wood freezes Eloy Jiminez with a slow curveball.

Maton takes a different approach to get batters out. His high spin rate on both his breaking pitches and his fastball make him extremely difficult to square up, as evidenced by his low hard-hit rate (24.4%).

Maton will throw any pitch in any count, making it hard for hitters to get comfortable in the box. In a late-August at-bat against Tampa’s Eric Sogard with a runner at third base, Maton got ahead with a couple of fastballs and then dropped a backdoor slider for strike three to get out of the inning.

Phil Maton

Phil Maton strikes out Eric Sogard with a backdoor slider.

Maton throws quality breaking pitches with good movement and has the ability to locate them when necessary. Against New York’s Gio Urshela in August, he showed an early fastball and then attacked with cutters and curveballs away. Urshela fouled off a breaking pitch before swinging over the top of a curve at the bottom of the strike zone.

Phil Maton

Phil Maton strikes out Gio Urshela on a curveball.

Wood figures to get a long look as one of Francona’s primary middle relievers, particularly considering his splits between getting righties and lefties out and the advent of the new three-batter minimum for pitchers. The fact that he has no minor-league options remaining also bodes well for his chances at making the roster and sticking around for a while. He needs to focus on limiting his walks (3.1/9IP) and hits (9.1/9IP) and that can be accomplished by refining his pitch repertoire.

Maton is an interesting piece. He can log multiple innings, but his best role might be as a right-handed specialist, pushing Adam Cimber for important assignments. He has one option remaining, but with the potential for expanded rosters in 2020, he will likely find his way onto the roster at some point.

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Can the Cleveland Indians rely on Hunter Wood and Phil Maton for bullpen depth in 2020? - cleveland.com
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