Indians option Adam Cimber to Lake County, promote LHP Kyle Nelson

The Cleveland Indians have optioned relief pitcher Adam Cimber to the alternate training site in Eastlake and promoted left-handed reliever Kyle Nelson to the big league club. Based on the comments from Tuesday night’s game recap, I expect LGT members to be in mourning.

Cimber has not been the most popular member of the Tribe bullpen since he arrived in Cleveland via a trade with the San Diego Padres in 2018. His FIP ballooned from 3.42 in 2018 to 4.36 in 2019, and his K/9 sits at a career-low 4.22 (which also matches his ERA) this season. The three-batter rule implemented for 2020 has not been kind to Cimber, considering right-handed hitters are slashing .367/.344/.567 against him in 10.2 innings of relief work.

As for Nelson, the newest member of the Tribe bullpen, this is his first big league call-up since being drafted by the Indians in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft. The southpaw posted a 2.28 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 47 innings last year while climbing three minor league levels. Fun Fact: Nelson was a former teammate of Shane Bieber’s at UC Santa Barbara.

Our own Matt Schlichting would like me to mention that he and Brian Hemminger kept tabs on Nelson virtually all of last season and are very excited to see him in Cleveland.