In the midst of a great start, the one thing that can derail the Cleveland Indians may be occurring, injuries.
The Tribe still has the best record in the American League, and now leads the AL Central Division by six games over the Tigers, but they are losing key people quickly.
Grady Sizemore is already on the 15-day disabled list, and is likely to be joined soon by DH Travis Hafner, who appears to have pulled his oblique muscle. Both of these veterans missed good portions of the last two seasons with different injuries.
Rookie pitcher Alex White left tonight’s game with an apparent middle finger problem.
Add to that an apparent turf toe injury to Sizemore’s replacement on the roster, Travis Buck, and it looks like GM Chris Antonetti will have to dig deep into the farm system to find replacements at least temporarily because Sizemore is eligible to come off the DL by next weekend.
Unfortunately, the Indians have series against two pretty good teams, the Reds and the Red Sox before Grady may be back in the lineup.
Luis Valbuena (.270, 4 HR and 21 RBI with a 784 OPS at Columbus) was called up Thursday to replace Justin Germano on the roster, but was sent back Friday to make room for OF Ezequiel Carrera (.317, 2 HR and 17 RBI, 824 OPS).
Carrera is a speedster, as evidenced by 15 stolen bases at AAA, and a very good defensive outfielder. He’s a left-handed hitter, and he made a tremendous big league debut with a game winning drag bunt to steal another game late at Progressive Field.
The Tribe will need a left-handed stick because Shelley Duncan, who hits southpaws very well, is being exposed when facing a lot of right handers. The lineup is significantly weakened if Duncan is the DH against a righty.
Duncan’s struggles against right handers are compounded with the offensive problems had by another right-handed hitter reserve outfielder, Austin Kearns. Kearns is hitting under .200 for the campaign, with just three extra base hits, all doubles.
When Thursday’s lineup was posted, skipper Manny Acta penciled in a bottom three of slumping Jack Hannahan, Kearns, and Adam Everett, a trio that scares nobody, except fans of the Indians.
If Buck is going to be out for a while, we may see Cord Phelps wearing a Cleveland uniform quickly. A switch hitter, Phelps is hitting .300 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI with a 937 OPS, which is helped by walking 29 times.
If Phelps is activated, he will likely get regular playing time, and with his ability to get on base, perhaps he can be put in the #2 spot in the batting order with Asdrubal Cabrera, who leads the Tribe in homers and RBI’s dropped to the fifth spot in the order.
With Sizemore and Hafner out of the lineup, Acta needs the two guys in the #3 and #4 holes in the batting order, Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana to get hot. Both have shown signs of putting things together recently. Choo had a double and triple to left center the past two games, which means he is staying on the baseball.
Santana’s average isn’t anything great, but he leads the Indians in walks, and is always a tough out. He works the count as good as a ten-year veteran.
Keep this in mind, as long as the starting pitching continues to do well, the Indians will be in games. That means that by moving runners and taking extra bases when possible, they can scrape out enough runs to stay on top of the division.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 