Scott Lewis 2009

Scott Lewis is currently considering a longshot to win the last spot in the Indians rotation for 2009. That's a shame, because he's a good pitcher. Lewis was successful in his only major league experience so far, striking out 15 and walking 6 in 24 innings of work (all as a starter). That's pretty close to what I'd expect from him on an ongoing basis. While his strikeout rates in the minor leagues suggest that he might be capable of a bit better, against the tougher competition in the majors, something between 6 and 7 per nine innings, with good control is a reasonable expectation. He only induced 36.5% groundballs in his major league work, but I would expect that to be very slightly higher going forward. Lewis isn't a star, and at 25 years old isn't that likely to develop into one. But he is a good, solid, major league quality starter.