Terry Francona On WFAN: Indians, Mets Rotations Have Much In Common
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Justifiably, there's a lot of buzz surrounding the Mets' young, talented pitching staff, but the starting rotation of their weekend opponent, the Cleveland Indians, isn't shabby, either.
Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco and Cody Anderson all posted ERAs of 3.63 or better last season. Kluber, Carrasco and Salazar all ranked in the top seven in the American League in strikeouts.
"I think they're a little bit similar in that they're young, hopefully getting better," Indians manager Terry Francona told WFAN's Mike Francesa of the two pitching staffs. "I can see why the Mets love their pitchers. My goodness, pretty much took them all the way to the World Series. And they still have a chance to get better because they're still learning.
"And that's how we feel (about the Indians' pitchers). Kluber won the Cy Young a couple of years ago, but Salazar and Carrasco and Anderson -- my goodness. It's not like they're the finished product yet, and I think that's part of the reason -- they do want to get better, and they've got good weapons and good arms and they can pitch."
Francona, meanwhile, said he's grateful his team is finally playing in baseball weather.
"You do the best you can. But like our first four games, I think the high we had was 35," he said. "You try to keep everybody going and everything, but I'm out there making a pitching change and I've got snot coming out of my nose. It's cold."
To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.
