Indians' Mike Clevinger Expected to be Activated From 60-Day IL and Start Monday vs Rangers

The Cleveland Indians sit 10.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins in the A.L. Central, but are just two games back of the second Wild Card spot. For a team with an unclear future, the Indians still have a ton of talent on the roster, and will be getting a big boost to their pitching staff as Mike Clevinger will soon be activated from the IL.

Clevinger is expected to draw a start on Monday, June 17 against the Texas Rangers, his first time on a MLB mound since April 9.

The Indians' starter never expected to hit the IL when he first dealt with back soreness, but after a closer look under the hood, Cleveland shut him down for what was an initial timetable of 8-12 weeks.

Clevinger looked incredible through two starts to open up the season, recording 22 strikeouts across just 12 innings and not surrendering an earned run. The Indians will look to Clevinger to fill the rotation spots that have been vacated by Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco who find themselves on the IL.

Clevinger dominated in his last rehab start, throwing most of his pitches for strikes and ramping up the radar gun. The rehab start proved that he is ready to go back to the MLB level and tab him as the starter for their game on Monday.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound hurler is coming off a 2018 season that saw the 28-year-old right-hander toss 200 innings of work, recording a 3.02 ERA and striking out 207 batters while posting a 13-8 record.