Three Clippers named to All-Star squad
Source: Columbus Clippers Facebook & here

The International League announced that Wyatt Toregas, Andy Marte and Jordan Brown have been selected to represent the Clippers in the Triple-A All Star Game on July 15th in Portland, Oregon.

You can view the entire roster here.

Congrats to Andy, Wyatt and Jordan!

Andy Marte on the All-Star team. Boggles the mind, I tell you.

Tribe acquires righty Abreu from Rays
Minors hurler expected to join Cleveland's bullpen soon
By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com / Article

CLEVELAND -- The Indians continue to bring in new arms for their beat-up bullpen.

On Thursday, the club acquired right-hander Winston Abreu from the Rays in exchange for right-handed relief prospect John Meloan. Abreu will join the Tribe's bullpen in the coming days, with a corresponding roster move to be announced at that time.

( Rest of article... )

Not surprised about Meloan. I saw him in a Clippers game where Zach Jackson started and pitched a shutout 5 innings. John comes up in the 6th and proceeds to give up 5 runs. I was impressed. *cough*

From indians.com's update on the injured (article):

LHP Scott Lewis (left elbow strain): Lewis, who suffered his injury in the Indians' home opener, pulled himself out of a rehab start at Double-A Akron on June 21 after four innings of work. He has been examined by team physician Dr. Mark Schickendantz and will be examined again by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., next week.

The Indians are not recommending surgery for Lewis.

"We hope [Andrews] can lend his expertise on how to get Scott over the hump," Soloff said. "He's effective when he pitches. In his last start, he pitched four innings and gave up just one hit. But he's not to the point where he subjectively feels 100 percent."

Andrews performed Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery on Lewis at the end of Lewis' sophomore year at Ohio State in 2003. Soloff said this injury is indirectly, not directly, related to that past surgical procedure.

( The rest: Grady, Aaron, Jake and Betancourt... )

Now from Minor Details, a Columbus Dispatch blog:
Two other Indian rehab items: Former Ohio State pitcher Scott Lewis is going to Birmingham, Ala., next week to consult with Dr. James Andrews over his surgically repaired left elbow. The Indians are saying surgery is inevitable. But Lewis pulled himself off a rehab assignment with Akron on June 21 because his elbow hurt.

*shrug* Who knows. I just know it sucks to have all these great players hurting/injured.

Some more thoughts/info on the deal today.

So far in his rather brief ML work, Chris Perez (who will be 24 on Wednesday) has an ERA of 3.72 over 65.1 IP. He's walked 37 people (less than one an inning, which makes him a god among the Tribe bullpen) and struck out 72 (more than one an innings). He's a righty and was named the 3rd best prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America. They also say he's got an amazing slider.

The Player To Be Named Later is supposed to be important, akin to the C.C. deal last year. No word if the same strings are attached for the possible picks.

The roster spot will be taken by Cabrera, but the word on the street is that LaPorta (or maybe Brantly) will get the call and, in turn, get regular time, including those days when they rest Grady and Francisco plays center.

Personally, I like this move. I think DeRosa's a great player, but this team needs stability -- as in a consistent line-up -- and there would be no place for him. Besides, he's a free agent at the end of the year and there's no way we'd be able to sign him, particularly given the other holes we'll need to fill.

I can't help but notice that Shoppach has been seeing a lot of bench time lately (well deserved, I should add). I wonder if we'll see Gimenez get time behind the plate any time soon.

DeRosa to St. Louis for Chris Perez and PTBNL.

Knew it was coming as soon as I saw the line-up today.

Shoppach next?

Captains Start Second Half With a 5-1 Win - Article

(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains started off the second half of the season with an impressive 5-1 win over the Hagerstown Suns on Thursday, led by 6.1 scoreless innings of work from Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona. The Captains won the first game of the first half as well.

The Captains took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning against Suns starter Ricardo Pecina when Chris Nash hit his fourth home run of the year. The Captains added four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on RBI 's by Karexon Sanchez and Donnie Webb and a two out bases loaded two RBI single from Mark Thompson and it was 5-0. The lone Suns run came in the top of the ninth inning courtesy of a Captains error.

Carmona (1-0) ended up allowing one hit, walking one and striking out seven. Travis Turek followed Carmona and made his 2009 Captains debut throwing 1.2 perfect innings. Steve Smith pitched the ninth inning and allowed the unearned run. Suns starter Ricardo Pecina (0-1) working 4.1 innings and allowing four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out one.

The pink bats the Tribe (and all around MLB) used for Mother's Day is now up for auction. Net proceeds from this auction will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Here are the Tribe-related bats up for auction:
Victor Martinez
Grady Sizemore
Ben Francisco
Mark DeRosa
Ryan Garko
Asdrubal Cabrera
Kelly Shoppach

What is with this team not being able to convert a leadoff double into a run?

Tribe acquires Veras from Yankees

The Indians acquired right-hander Jose Veras from the Yankees for cash considerations on Wednesday. The right-handed Veras had been designated for assignment by the Yanks last week.

Veras is expected to join the Indians' bullpen this week, most likely when the club returns home Friday to face the Reds.

( But wait! It gets better! *sarcasm* )

Aubrey to the O's

Michael Aubrey entered the Indians' organization in 2003 with all the tout and talent that comes with an advanced college bat taken 11th overall in the First-Year Player Draft.

Injuries robbed Aubrey, a Tulane product, of the ability to make good on all the lofty projections placed before him. And on Wednesday, he left the organization for a new start elsewhere. The Indians traded the 27-year-old Aubrey to the Orioles for a player to be named.

( Ciao Aubrey... )

Shame about Michael. He was really nice when I met him. I just think with the logjam at first base (Vic, Garko, Chris, etc.) that Aubrey didn't stand a chance for awhile. Hopefully he'll be used well and keep healthy in Baltimore.

And furthermore, let's hope to the heavens we don't BLOW this game like we almost did last night. My heart can't take anymore craziness. David Huff looked like he wanted to cry. I wanted to cry. Goodness.

Embarrassing.

Aside from maybe Herges, every single one of our relievers who pitched tonight (so far, as it's still the top of the 8th) should be sent down.

YOU WALK PEOPLE WITH A FIVE RUN LEAD, YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE HERE.

I'm sure Tony Sipp, Rich Rundles, and Zach Jackson would love another shot.

Westbrook pulled from next start in Akron due to soreness.

Laffey to start (and go 3 innings) for Columbus on Thursday.

No word on Cabrera, who would be huge to get back.

Someone said there was a way to listen to the games for free, if you could tell me, I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to hear Bob Uecker call this game.

From Cleveland.com:

CLEVELAND -- Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore said today that his left elbow felt good during a workout today at Progressive Field and he's hopeful that it will not require surgery.

Sizemore, who has been on the disabled list since May 31 because of inflammation in the elbow, had a MRI exam and a physician's exam earlier today.

"I was cleared to go throw and take swings today, so I guess it went well," Sizemore said of the exams.

Sizemore had an MRI several weeks ago that showed no structural damage.

"We were pretty confident that the second MRI was going to be good," Sizemore said. "After the first one didn't show any structural damage we figured after two weeks of treatment the chances of the second one showing anything major were small."

Sizemore threw from 60 feet on the field before batting practice and took practice swings in the tunnel off the dugout.

"I didn't go too far, or do too much, but what I did felt good," Sizemore said. "I was able to take swings without pain.

"I'm day-to-day. We're going to go day-to-day and see how it feels. Hopefully I'll go out tomorrow and throw a little further and take some more swings, maybe soft toss."

Sizemore is hitting .223 with 9 homers and 31 RBI in 49 games. He was moved to designated hitter on May 19 after feeling pain in the elbow while throwing. He played predominantly DH, but the elbow did not respond favorably and he was placed on the disabled list. Before today he had not picked up a ball or swung a bat since being placed on the disabled list.

Indians head trainer Lonnie Soloff said Sizemore has synovitis, inflammation of the joint lining in his elbow. Soloff is expected to brief the media on Sizemore's status this afternoon.

A year ago, Sizemore had a career-highs of 33 homers, 90 RBIs and 38 stolen bases while batting .268.

From MiLB.com:

Two from Tribe also rehabbing
Game: Akron at New Hampshire
When: June 16-18

Two recovering Cleveland Indians pitchers are expected to make rehab starts for the first-place Akron Aeros this week as they travel to Merchantsauto.com Stadium to face the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Southpaw Scott Lewis is scheduled to start for the Aeros on Tuesday. Lewis, who's recovering from a strained left forearm, pitched three shutout innings for the Lake County Captains in a rehab start last week. Right-hander Jake Westbrook will likely take the mound for Akron on Thursday. Westbrook underwent Tommy John surgery in June of last year and began the 2009 season on the 60-day disabled list. In two starts with the Aeros this season, spanning seven innings, Westbrook has given up only four hits and has not allowed a run.


I'm guessing, if everything goes according to plan, Westbrook will make at least two starts for Columbus after this (since this is his third start in Akron). If he stays on schedule that would put his last start in AAA on June 28th, which means he'd be in line to start for the Tribe on July 3rd, a home game against Oakland. If he needs another start in Columbus, he's be back July 8th at Chicago.

I'm kind of hoping he gets an extra day off somewhere in there and is able to start at home on July 4th. That would be pretty sweet.

I have no idea what Scott Lewis' time table is. His injury was obviously less severe, so maybe they'll try to get him five innings in Akron and then send him right up to Columbus, depending upon how he does.

I keep reading that Laffey is on target to be back by the end of June/beginning of July, too, but so far he's yet to make a rehab start, so they clearly don't think he'll need many.

Grady's supposed to have his MRI today.

Where is the love, people? Have we all given up already? Cliff Lee was brilliant tonight! We took 2 out of 3 from a good team! I repeat, where is the love?

Oh, and we're only six games out again! If we can just pick up one more game between now and the end of the month, I'd feel pretty good about our odds. It's crazy talk, I know!

And we've got good match-ups for the next week!

Six games separate all the teams in the AL Central. Four games separate all the teams in the NL Central. How crazy is that?

Who is this "David Huff" guy and where has he been all this time?

I thought Wedge left him in too long, particularly with Pujols due up at some point. It's too bad, really, because he had 3 ER charged to him. But, still, it would seem like he and Jeremy Sowers have become aware that there might only be room for one of them in a few weeks.

Speaking of which, Jake Westbrook pitched 4 scoreless innings for Akron tonight, giving up 3 hits and striking out 3. That's a good sign. I wonder if they'll try to get him up to five innings in Akron or just send him to Columbus next.

Would have been nice if Detroit had lost, but at least the White Sox are losing.

Tomorrow should be interesting.

I've always loved seagulls.

From all reports, the bird is fine and, let's face facts, Crisp wouldn't have made that throw, anyway.

And Detroit lost, so we're back where we were at the start of the series, but three days closer to getting some pitchers back.

Speaking of which, Jake Westbrook's second AA start was rained out (he's scheduled to go 4 innings this time out). No word on Laffey yet, but the AP had this on the end of the Tribe write-up:

Indians LHP Scott Lewis, sidelined since April 11 with a strained left elbow made his first rehab start in the minors for Class A Lake County. He struck out three over three hitless innings.

He's a level behind Jake, but I'm guessing he won't need as many starts to come back. It's probably more a case of getting back in the groove for him than rebuilding his body.

And let's face facts, tonight was a decent start from Sowers. That's all we need from him.

Tomorrow night should be a real test for Huff. He's facing some really good hitters (if not one of the best).

Does anyone else day dream about the Tribe staying close until the end of June and us getting Sizemore, Cabrera, Westbrook, Laffey, and Lewis back all at once?

Dare to dream.

Hit by Pitch (including last night's games):
1. Kelly Shoppach (12)
2. Chase Utley (11)
3. Carlos Quentin (8)
3. Ryan Braun (8)
4. Shin-Soo Choo (6)
4. Ryan Garko (6)
4. Mark Teixeira (6)
4. Kevin Youkilis (6)
4. Fernando Tatis (6)

I'm not even sure how to interpret this. With such little playing time for Shoppach and Garko, I'm kind of impressed, but I'm not sure I should be.

We're not in last! We're not in last! We're not in last!

Also, I'm prepared to just keep praying that Sowers/Huff/Ohka can give us a few quality starts until next month, because I'd kind of like to hold on to DeRosa.

OR, perhaps we can put together a package of guys like Garko and Shoppach and some prospects (I like Garko and all, but if DeRosa sticks around and we get healthy again, he'll never play).

If we beat Kansas City tomorrow, we'll no longer be in last place.

Boggles the mind.

We've got good match-ups in the first two games (Lee/Bannister and Pavano/Meche), but get Greinke in the finale (against Sowers). We did give him his first loss of the season, though, so there's hope. I'd love a sweep, but I'll take two out of three.

The Cardinals don't know who their start will be Friday, when we throw out our own desperation #5, Ohka. If I read their rotation right, Brad Thompson would get the start Saturday against David Huff. Sunday night should be killer, as Chris Carpenter would face Cliff Lee.

I hate interleague play.

The game Sunday night is supposed to be on ESPN. The game the following Monday is also supposed to be on ESPN (against the Brewers).