Report: Indians Clevinger to Be Placed on IL with Ankle Sprain

Indians fans held their breath on Monday night when a returning Mike Clevinger went down in his start against the Texas Rangers with an ankle injury.

Clevinger stayed in the game, even saying after that he would be able to make his next start.

Now it appears that next start won’t be for awhile.

Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com reports that the Tribe is likely to place Clevinger on the injured list again with a sprained left ankle.

The latest injury for Clevinger puts the Indians in a quandary for Saturday’s matchup with the Tigers at Progressive Field in terms of who is going to start.

One option could simply be to do a ‘bullpen game’ which the team did during their last homestand for one game against the Minnesota Twins.

It came on the day when the team announced starter Carlos Carrasco was leaving the team to deal with a blood condition.

That night the team started Tyler Clippard, and used seven relievers as they eventually rallied to win the game 9-7.

Another option, as Haynes points out, is righty Aaron Civale, who had his start Thursday skipped down in AAA with the Columbus Clippers.

Civale in two starts is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA. He was an impressive 4-0 with AA Akron with a 2.67 ERA before getting the call up to the Clipperss.

If Civale makes the start on Saturday, he will already be the third rookie to start this season in the rotation for the Indians, their position of strength.

The team got a couple starts from Jefry Rodriguez before he went on the injured list, and Zach Plesac has been impressive in his few starts and remains currently in the rotation.

Clevinger threw a bullpen session on Thursday morning in Texas, but it appears the ankle sprain will keep him away from making a start for at least a week or two.