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Mike Clevinger is to undergo surgery to repair a partial tear of his left medial meniscus, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Clevinger sustained the injury while training, and a timetable for his return will be set following the surgery.
Sources: Mike Clevinger is scheduled to undergo surgery today after he sustained partial of the medial meniscus in his left knee while training this week. He has been on crutches. Timetable for a return will be established following the procedure.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) February 14, 2020
Clevinger, 29, was poised to be the Indians’ ace in 2020 after turning his best season ever in 2019 while battling a back issue. Without a timetable for return, it’s hard to gauge what his impact will now be in 2020, but we can only hope he’ll come close to the 2.71 ERA and 4.5 fWAR he put up in 126.0 innings last season.
Typically a fully torn medial meniscus takes 4-6 weeks to heal, but everyone is different and reportedly Clevinger’s tear is only partial. So there’s at least a little hope here. The problem is, every day he’s not pitching in the majors is going to hurt the Indians’ chances of chasing down the Twins for the AL Central crown. They’re already playing on a razor’s edge and this grinds into the minuscule margin for error they’ve given themselves.