Great seats, LARRY, but I prefer the 2nd or 3rd row there, b/c of the plexiglass. Used to be a railing when they first opened, though.

Carrasco apparently won't miss any time.

Almonte goes on the DL along with fellow OFs Jackson [almost ready to return] and Guyer [out a month+] and Naquin [on Columbus DL]. The only remaining position player on the 40-man roster who is neither on the major league team or the DL is Urshela. Which means to fill Almonte's spot either:

1. Activate Jackson who is nearly ready, they say, but would be better served with some rehab games in the minors.
2. Clear a spot on the roster by DFAing Carlos Frias whose AAA ERA is just below 10, and invite Richie Shaffer for awhile,
3. Or Zimmer, who is in the middle of a very hot stretch.
4. Or add Armstrong to the pen, and use Gonzalez and Diaz to fill in along with Robertson. I note that Yandy hasn't got off the bench in several games. I wonder if they're thinking of returning him to Columbus, but with the current shortage of OFs the time may not be right for that move

It wouldn't hurt to skip Cookie's next turn. Let the pecs heal!

CIV called these moves!

Tribe has recalled OF Bradley Zimmer and RHP Shawn Armstrong from Class AAA Columbus.
Almonte to DL, Yandy Diaz optioned, Carlos Frias DFA'd.

Wow, my best day in years. I'm eager to see him Zimmer fares.

Well, I wasn't pounding on the table for Zimmer to be brought up yet. I felt like he still had one thing to work on, to cut down the K's some.

But he will right away be the best CF'er we have seen for Tribe in quite a while, including highlight reel catches. And it enables us to move Chiz back to RF. The defense in the OF has went from sub par to above average now, in my opinion.

While hitting he will use entire field, including good power to opposite field.

And he runs really well and can swipe bases. Has long legs and long strides, can cover ground in a hurry. Will score from 1st on a double and 2nd on a single.

Fans should just be ready to be patient with him cause I do feel like he will strike out quite a bit early in his career. But will help the team other ways.

Indians announce that OF Abe Almonte will be out three to five weeks with strained right biceps muscle.

That should give Zimmer, Shaffer.Diaz some chances.

So the kind of thin OF is getting thinner. The top notch starting pitching is weak. The great FA signing is woeful.
Not sure why the team isn't winning more than half of the time. Must be Tito.

Ok, so here are the May stats for our No. 1 rated starting pitchers:

75 1/3 innings
83 strikeouts. Wow!
80 hits. Not too terrible
29 walks. When you omit the 9 by Clevinger in 10 innings, not so bad
14 homeruns. Not sure how to make one look good.
49 runs.
all earned. Great defense!
6.52 ERA. Individually for May: Clev 2.70; Carrasco 3.78; Tomlin 4.15; Bauer 7.89; Salazar 8.75; Kluber 15.00

Everyone of course has the right to feel how they feel so I'm not trying to diss anyone here. I would never be confused for thought police. But I do think a lot of fans are over-reacting, and come the end of the season we will be competing for a trip to the World Series again. And Encarnacion will be helping us win a lot of games.

There is one concern that Civ brought up yesterday that I do agree with though, and that is the starting rotation.

They are taking it slow with Kluber and want to make sure they don't make a minor thing worse. But I feel like he will get back and be fine.

But after that I don't know what to expect. I feel like Carrasco will be pretty good this year, but will have a stinker here and there.

Salazar has electric stuff but still no idea how to use it.

Bauer is a total flake and I would never count on him.

Tomlin has crap stuff and has to be perfect to be effective. He will have days that he is perfect with his location, but he will continue to have days where he is not too, and will get pounded.

As I look at where the team is, we have some extra pieces. In CF we do not need Naquin, Zimmer, and Allen. And they all have value. If the idea is to one day move one of them to RF then we don't need Yandy Diaz, as much as I like him. We have a pretty decent middle infield prospect in Erik Gonzalez who has no place to play, ever.

We should put together a package and go after a serious starting pitcher that is more reliable and dependable than most of the boom or bust types that we have. Jose Quintana, Ervin Santana, Jason Vargas, Matt Garza are just a few names rumored to be available. I think only one of them, Santana, has a contract that may make us balk.

We traded Michael Martinez for a PTBNL or Cash. (not Norm)

Ding dong, he's finally out of our hair!

Don't forget, he went to Boston last year, then came back to us.

Hard to believe there was a bidding war for MM

Hillbilly wrote:
There is one concern that Civ brought up yesterday that I do agree with though, and that is the starting rotation.

Well, that's a pretty major concern, since that is supposed to be our strength.