Scott Lewis Profile: Getting to Know the New Indians Starter

Written by: Nino Colla on 27th March 2009

Scott Lewis Profile: Getting to Know the New Indians Starter | read this item

Sometimes you don’t know where an answer to your question might come from.

In the case of the Cleveland Indians’ fifth starter, that answer came in the form of someone who was a bit of a question himself not too long ago.

A consistent spring has earned Scott Lewis the final spot in the Cleveland rotation over the likes of Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers, Zach Jackson, and David Huff.

The only two questions that remain now are, “How long will Lewis stick in the rotation?” and “Just who is Scott Lewis?”

Consider this an attempt to answer the later question.

Scott Lewis may be from California, but he is as close to of an Ohio kid as you are going to get without actually being from the state originally.

Lewis was drafted by the Angels out of Washington Court House High School back in 2001; that would be his last tie to the state of California. His Ohio high school ties would translate into his college career.

Instead of getting into professional baseball, he opted to attend college at Ohio State University. For three years he flashed impressive stuff in the Big Ten for the Buckeyes and when it was all said and done, he won the conference pitcher of the year award as a sophomore.

As good as he was as a freshman; his sophomore campaign was downright dominant, going 9-1 with a 1.61 ERA and un-believable 127 strikeouts.

His junior year was shortened thanks to Tommy John surgery and while it may have affected his draft stock, the Indians didn’t change their opinion on him, at least not enough to pass on drafting him in the third round of the 2004 draft.

Lewis did see a few games in rookie ball that same year, but it wasn’t enough to pass judgment as the surgery might have not been completely run its course.

Little did anyone know that the injury bug would soon become part of his journey.

It was another shortened season, this time thanks to tendonitis in the bicep. Lewis pitched in just seven games for the rookie team in Mahoning Valley and that was pretty much his 2005 season.

It’s now 2006 and the Indians are beginning to wonder when they are going to see this kid show his talent on the professional baseball stage. He ended up skipping Low-A class Lake County and went right to High-A Kinston and he was well worth the wait.

No longer first round talent and 30^th round luck. In 26 starts, the left-handed pitcher pitched in 115 plus innings, striking out 123 hitters, and carrying an ERA of 1.48.

2007 would be another year of success and injury-free pitching, at least till the end, as Lewis tossed 134 innings in 25 starts for the Double-A Akron team. His ERA wasn’t as pretty but he struck out just two less hitters at the next level of baseball.

The innings and pitch count restrictions had slowed Lewis’ progress as he would start 2008 at the same level he looked pretty good at. This was due in large part to the restrictions and the injuries that sidelined him from Akron’s playoff run and the pulled muscle for the start of the 2008 season.

With durability a concern, it seemed like Lewis’ progression would continue to be slowed down and he’d never reach the majors, at least not the way the Indians kept turning out starting pitchers ahead of him. Just ask minor league guru, Tony Lastoria, who’s seen plenty of prospects never make it because of injuries.

“Injuries usually are a death sentence to a prospect, since if they are not out there playing they are not out there performing, improving, and showing their stuff and at the same time new players are being brought into the organization to take your job.”

Midseason, he joined Akron and he showed some of that dominant stuff he had with the Buckeyes. In 13 games with Akron he struck out 61 hitters and eventually earned a call-up to Triple-A Buffalo.

It wasn’t long before he returned to Akron for the playoffs, but that would be short lived. With just four games at the Triple-A level under his belt and the Indians suffering from a rash of injures, Lewis was called up to make his debut with Cleveland against Baltimore on September 10th.

It would be a start to remember for Lewis, in several different ways. Pitching well into the game, Lewis seemed to be on track to do something special, a complete game shutout in his first major league start.

Citing reasons of pitch count and fear of injury, manager Eric Wedge decided he wasn’t going to push it. Lewis would win the game and go eight scoreless, which still isn’t too shabby for your major league debut.

“We even thought about getting him out of there after the seventh. But he ran through the seventh pretty efficiently. If you send him back out there, he’s probably around 110 or so, and we didn’t want to do that.”

That success would hold up through the month of September as Lewis went 4-0, not allowing a run for his first 14 innings pitched. Despite a rocky game against Chicago to end his season, Lewis still finished the season as the American League Rookie of the Month for September and with a whole lot of confidence.

That confidence has evidently carried over into this year’s spring training. Considered a contender, but not really considered a threat, Lewis was in the mix for the final rotation spot to start the 2009 season.

One by one, left-hander by left-hander, pitchers started dropping out of the race for the spot, except for Scott Lewis.

He outlasted the likes of Sowers, and hyped prospect David Huff, even heavy favorite Aaron Laffey who came into camp more relaxed and in better shape. He was consistent and that’s all Eric Wedge needed to decide that Scott Lewis was his guy.

“It says a great deal about Lewis in reference to what he did in big-league camp. I told him today that he came in and won the job from people who have had, or will have, a lot of success in the big leagues.”

After he takes the mound for the Indians home opener at Progressive Field next month, he will have started more major league games than games at the Triple-A level.

Lewis and the Indians are hoping that won’t be an issue though. His accelerated 2008 certainly made up for the lost time in the previous few years, and after his success in the big leagues during September, it’s hard to say if he could benefit from a stint at Columbus.

Oh, Columbus.

That will be the one thing about Lewis’ big win that kind of makes you snap your fingers. How great would it have been if it was Lewis opening up the Indians era in Columbus? The Buckeye returns to his old stomping grounds to kick off, what the Clippers and Indians hope, is a successful venture together.

I don’t think any party minds that not happening though. Everyone wants to see Scott Lewis succeed at the big league level, and now he’s got that chance, something that Lastoria says Lewis worked hard at to get.

“Scott Lewis is not only a talented pitcher and one of the best pitching prospects in the system; he might also be one of the hardest working, most competitive players in the system. He’s experienced a lot of the highs and lows in the game, and I think that helps keep him grounded and so in control when he is out on the mound.”

Injuries tied him down, but Lewis made up for lost time and now that he’s got his shot, he won’t waste it without a fight.

Topics: Scott Lewis

Michael Taylor says:

March 28, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Nice work Nino! I am excited to see how Lewis responds to this promotion. He has always been a battler, and I expect this to be just the same. It may be tough for Laffey/Sowers to take back the job.