Indians Confidential

1. Injuries: Jake Westbrook (elbow surgery) out for a year, catcher Victor Martinez (elbow surgery), Josh Barfield (finger surgery) out for a few months, Travis Hafner (shoulder) out for who knows how long, Adam Miller (finger surgery), Fausto Carmona (hip) having another “setback,” his return time is now the middle of July.

2. Bullpen: Currently ranks second worst in the American League in Earned Run Average. Once was a stable entity in the past. They are also last in the A.L. in saves.

3. Hitting: Indians currently sit last in the American League in hits and 11th out of 14 teams in the A.L. in on-base percentage. The injuries have taken there toll on the offense!

4. Void fillers: Guys like Peralta, Blake, and Garko have continued to struggle in the absences of Hafner and Martinez. In the past these players have stepped up when others were slumping, which has not been the case this year. None of these three players are currently hitting over .270.

5. Can’t win the Close ones: The Indians are currently 6-8 in games decided by one run. To be a contender these are the games you must win. (See Bullpen above)

6. Slow Start: With the high expectations for this team going into the year the Indians needed to jump out early. With the team being fairly young in age it was imperative for them to have some success in the early months of the season. March-May their record was 25-30.

7. Streaks: The Indians have gone on 2 runs this year in April they won 5 straight, however in May they lost 7 straight.

8. Struggling Ace: C.C. Sabathia has since turned his season around, but he began the season 1-5. His earned run average was 7.51 at that time and this did not bode well for the Tribe, nor the reigning Cy young Award Winner. His E.R.A. is currently 4.06.

9. Can’t Capitalize: The Indians are in the second worst division in all of baseball, yet they can’t seem to make ground on the other teams in the Central. The Detroit Tigers also came into the season with high hopes and they got off to an even worst start than the Tribe, but they now sit a game and half ahead of Indians in the standings.

10. Consistency: This team has not found any one thing that they are good at and consistent at. This has made Eric Wedge’s job more difficult and even more impressive.. If the team is good at one aspect of the game, then he could rely on that one thing and dwell on the many others. When it is all said and done, this could be Wedge’s best year in terms of managing because of the way that he has dealt with all of this teams obstacles.

From The Indians

The Cleveland Indians do not have a update on DH TRAVIS HAFNER today as Indians Head Athletic Trainer LONNIE SOLOFF has not spoken with Dr. Andrews yet today regarding his examination of Travis.  The Indians should have an update tomorrow on Hafner.

RHP FAUSTO CARMONA was examined this morning by Dr. Schickendantz in Cleveland.  Carmona again felt soreness in the left hip. A MRI revealed some inflammation in the hip, however the inflammation was less than he had experienced in late May.  Fausto will be shut down for 3 days then will be re-evaluated to determine a better time frame as to when he can resume to pitching activities.

Tuesday was not exactly a banner day for the Indians, as things that appeared to be heading on the right track after a 6-2 homestand went right back to despair. First there was the updated injury report, which included Josh Barfield having finger surgery, Fausto Carmona being sore after a 50-pitch session, and Travis Hafner heading to see “Dr.Doom” James Andrews for a second opinion on his shoulder.

Then last night in Colorado, the team took any and all momentum from winning five of their last seven and flushed it down the toilet with an uninspiring 10-2 thrashing at the hands of the Rockies. The loss had all the usual elements of a 2008 Indians setback - little offense, wasted chances, Paul Byrd allowing homers (in and park and out this time), and the bullpen giving up runs when trying to keep the team in the game.

Overall, not a good way to start a west coast trip to say the least. Let’s start with Byrd. As stated here on this site before, Paul Byrd is one of the classiest players you’ll ever come across. He’s also a guy that will stand up and admit his mistakes, and Tuesday night, he was on that side of doing that once again. Falling to 3-7 with a 5.21 ERA, you get the sense that Byrd at 37 might just be nearing the end of being a solid MLB pitcher. Last season he won 15 games, but with the way he’s going this year, it’s hard to believe he’ll get to 10 wins all season.

It’s too early to say, but one has to think that the next three and a half months will be the last for Byrd in an Indians uni. The team can dump him at the end of the year, and with some prospects pitching well, and the team likely to revamp some of the staff on the open market in 2009, I think Byrd will not be here next season, unless that is as some sort of long relief arm, which I think is unlikely.

Against the Rockies, Byrd allowed two more homers, one in the park and one out, putting that total to 19 this season. He allowed 27 last year in 192.1 innings, and this year has allowed 8 less in only 77.2 innings. Byrd started the year slow at 0-2, but things seemed to be on track after his 4-0 shutout win over the A’s on May 13th. Since then, the wheels have come off again, as he’s gone 1-4, and in his last two starts has gone just a total of 7 innings, allowing 10 earned runs on 15 hits.

His linescore on Tuesday read 4 innings, five runs on nine hits, two homers allowed, walking one and striking out four. The offense did little to pick him up, as they left 8 men on base, managed 9 hits, and plated two runs, the second with the team well out of the game at 10-1. Greg Reynolds pitched well against the Tribe, going 6 innings, allowing one run on five hits, not walking a batter and striking out four.

Jhonny Peralta was about the only bright spot at the plate, going 3-for-4 and raising his average to .235. Other than that, the offense never seemed to get off the plane arriving in Colorado for the interleague matchup. Now at 33-38, the team falls into a third place tie with the Tigers, who won over the Giants Tuesday night. They also lose a game on the White Sox who won, to fall to 6.5 games back in the AL Central.

Wednesday night the team will look to get back on track as Aaron Laffey, who’s 4-and-3 with a 2.83 ERA, will start for the Indians. The Rockies will send out Jeff Francis, who’s 2-and-6 with a 5.49 ERA. First pitch at Coors Field is set for 9:05 p.m.

From: The Indians

Today, the Indians announced the INF JOSH BARFIELD underwent left middle finger extensor hood reconstruction to stabilize the extensor tendon. The surgery was performed by Dr. Tom Graham in Baltimore, MD. Barfield is expected to return to play in 6 to 8 weeks.

Other injury news:

RHP FAUSTO CARMONA threw at 3.0 inning simulated game in Mahoning Valley yesterday. He felt general soreness after being evaluated in Cleveland today and will be re-evaluated tomorrow prior to determining when he will make his first rehab start.

DH TRAVIS HAFNER took dry swings as well as swings off the tee on Sunday in Progressive Field. According to Indians Head Athletic Trainer Lonnie Soloff, Hafner is not progressing as quickly as hoped and will be evaluated by Dr. Andrews tomorrow in Alabama to ensure he and the Indians are on the right track with his rehab plan in order to expedite his return.

Fausto Carmona will throw a simulated game today.  If all goes well, Carmona will head to the minors to begin a rehab assignment.  Carmona has been on the disabled list since May 24th with a strained left hip.

The Indians sent the presser out a few minutes ago about the injury to Fausto Carmona, as well as a roster move to help the bullpen. Here it is:

CLEVELAND, OH— The Cleveland Indians today announced a pair of roster moves. The club has placed RHP FAUSTO CARMONA on the 15-day disabled list with a left hip strain. Also today, the Indians purchased the contract of RHP SCOTT ELARTON from AAA Buffalo, recalled RHP EDWARD MUJICA from AAA Buffalo and optioned RHP JENSEN LEWIS to AAA Buffalo.

Carmona left last night’s start in the 3rd inning vs. Texas (2.0IP, 5H, 6R/ER, 2BB, K), a 13-9 loss to the Rangers in Progressive Field. So far this year he is 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA (58.0IP, 54H, 22R/20ER, 38BB, 23K) in 10 starts for the Indians. His 3.10 ERA is currently 9th best in the American League. This marks the first career stint on the Major League disabled list for Carmona.

Elarton, 33, was signed to a minor league free agent contract with an invitation to spring training by the Indians on February 8. He has made 15 appearances out of the bullpen for the AAA Buffalo Bisons going 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA (25.2IP, 21H, 9R/7ER, 7BB, 18K). Elarton limited AAA hitters to a .223 (21-94) average and has yielded just 1 earned run in his last 8 appearances (13.1IP, 9H, 3R/1ER, 4BB, 9K) at Buffalo.

He owns a career Major League record of 56-60 with a 5.31 ERA in 224 games/170 starts since beginning his career 10 years ago with the Houston Astros in 1998. Elarton pitched with the Indians in 2004 (3-5, 4.53 ERA, 21GS) and 2005 (11-9, 4.61ERA, 31GS) and spent the 2006-2007 seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He underwent shoulder surgery in August 2006 that curtailed the start of his 2007 campaign before making 19 starts between AA Wichita, AAA Omaha and Kansas City in between a pair of stints on the disabled list (shoulder rehab, right foot sprain). He finished the 2007 season in the AAA Buffalo Bison bullpen (1-0, 2.50ERA, 9G, 18.0IP, 17H, 5ER, 5BB, 14K) after being released from Kansas City at the end of July. Elarton has not pitched in the Major Leagues since July 24,, 2007 vs. the New York Yankees (GS, 1.2IP, 6H, 7R/ER) and has not appeared in relief since September 6, 2003 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers (1.0IP, 1H, 2R/0ER) while with the Colorado Rockies. He will wear #39.

Mujica, 24, has spent the entire 2008 season at AAA Buffalo after being optioned out of spring training on March 15. At Buffalo he was 0-2 with 4 saves and a 4.15 ERA (26.0IP, 29H, 14R/12ER, 10BB, 27K) in 18 appearances out of the bullpen. In his last 13 appearances (17.1IP, 17H, 4R/2ER, 7BB, 18K) with Buffalo he allowed just 2 earned runs. Last year, Mujica split the 2007 season between AAA Buffalo and Cleveland. He was with the Indians five (5) different times (May 7-22, June 20-24, June 27-July 8, July 27-August 25 and Spet. 4- end of season) going 0-0 with a 8.31 ERA (13.0IP, 19H, 12R/ER, 2BB, 7K) in 10 appearances. He wears #49.

Lewis appeared in 20 games in relief for Cleveland going 0-2 with a 3.58 ERA (27.2IP, 29H, 11R/ER, 15BB, 19K). Last night against the Rangers he pitched 2.1 innings, allowing 1 run/earned on 3 hits while walking 1 and striking out 1.

The Indians currently have 3 players on the Major League DL (Fausto Carmona, Shin-Soo Choo & Jake Westbrook).

The Indians found a new way to lose on Friday night at Progressive Field, as they were able to put up 9 runs, the problem was they allowed 13 in losing their 7th straight, falling to the Texas Rangers 13-9. The night started bad (four runs in the first), and never really got better in the 4 hour 9 minute affair, the second longest game in the ballparks history.

Fausto Carmona was battered early before leaving the game with a hip strain. He allowed the Rangers the four runs in the first inning before many of the 39,947 were even sitting down. The Indians offense actually showed signs of life, getting two runs back in the bottom of the first on RBI from Ben Francisco and Travis Hafner to make it 4-2.

It looked as if the Indians were going to get back in the game for good in the 2nd, as they again got a run, this time off a Hafner sac fly to deep center to make it 4-3. That’s when the bottom dropped out. In the third, the Rangers sent 11 batters to the plate, the highlight of the inning coming when light hitting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia took a Jorge Julio pitch 380 feet with the bases loaded for his first career grand slam to make it 9-3.

Carmona had left the game two batter before Saltalamacchia with what was told to us was a hip strain. He is day-to-day. The line on Carmona was awful - two innings, five hits, six runs, three walks and one K. He suffered the loss to put him at 4-2 on the season. Even worse though was Julio, who at this point simply has to be the next to go off this roster.

The journeyman reliever came in and allowed six Rangers to either get hits or walks before finally retiring a batter. He lasted 1.2 innings, allowing five runs on six hits, three walks, one K and the grand slam. The night for him was mercifully over, but not before he cemented the fact that he should be the next to be shown the door.

Down 11-3 the Indians made it somewhat interesting, scoring three in the bottom of the third when Grady Sizemore homered to make it 11-6. No more runs were scored till the teams traded runs in the 6th to make it 12-7, and then in the bottom of the 7th Jamey Carroll doubled in two more to make it 12-9. The Rangers made sure they wouldn’t lose this one, as they scored a run in the 8th off of Rafael Perez to end the scoring at 13-9.

The now 7-game losing streak is the longest the Indians have had since they lost 9 in August of 2004. The team will once again try to rebound on Saturday as Cliff Lee will go for the Indians vs Scott Feldman at 7:05pm.