Familiar names


MIKE CLEVINGER
SP, CLEVELAND INDIANS

Mike Clevinger (back) will throw a simulated game on Saturday and could begin a rehab assignment next week.
He will pitch in a simulated game today at extended spring training and if that goes well he will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Columbus in the middle of the week. Clevinger has been on the injured list since April 8th due to an upper back strain and has made just two starts for the Indians this year. He has not allowed a run in 12 innings. He went 13-8 with a 3.02 ERA in 32 starts last year. He will provide a big boost to the Indians and his fantasy owners when he returns.

SOURCE: MLB.com
Jun 1, 2019, 2:29 PM ET

JAY BRUCE
OF, SEATTLE MARINERS

Updating an earlier report, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports the trade sending Jay Bruce from the Mariners to the Phillies is not imminent but talks between the two teams continue.
Earlier reports indicated the trade was nearly done. Bruce is reportedly willing to waive his no-trade clause to make a trade with the Phillies possible. Still no word on what the Mariners would get in the deal.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports the Mariners are actively shopping Edwin Encarnacion, Ryon Healy, Dee Gordon, Tim Beckham and Mike Leake in addition to Bruce.

Another one:

Padres activated C Francisco Mejia from the 10-day injured list; optioned him to Triple-A El Paso.
Mejia had been 9-for-23 with a homer and three doubles during his minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A. He'll continue to work on his swing there while Austin Hedges continues to function as the Padres' primary backstop at the big league level.

Mike Clevinger (back) will begin a minor league rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Columbus.

Clevinger has been out since April 8 with an upper back strain and so he'll probably require at least a couple of starts on the farm to get properly stretched out for major league competition, but this is tremendous news in general for an Indians team that currently sits 11 1/2 games back of first place in the American League Central.

Clevinger, 28, had racked up 22 strikeouts over 12 scoreless innings (two starts) before hitting the 10-day and then 60-day injured list.

He'll join Triple-A Columbus in time to start Thursday's game.

Indians Prospective
#Indians have signed 35yr old RHP Mitch Talbot to a minor league contract. Talbot pitched w/ Columbus last year & had a 2.52 ERA over 103.2 innings. He was currently pitching in Independent Ball w/ the Sugar Land Skeeters.

This one seems to have worked out:

Yonder Alonso is mired in a a season-long slump. He has a .184 batting average with seven home runs and 26 RBI. His .605 OPS is by far the worst of his 10-year career.

As unfortunate and frustrating as this past offseason was....

And as unlucky with injuries and under-performance (Jose??, Kipnis) as this season has been....

I have to have a certain admiration for this boring, yet feisty team. Still battling and recently took 2 of 3 from Boston, the Twins and now as they go for a sweep today vs. NY they continue to battle.

Kudos to the team for not giving up while we get to see guys like Mercado, Plesac break in and hopefully stay for good.

I would still totally SELL Bauer for good young hitters though! Clevinger will be back very soon and this season is still about seeing who can make a run with us NEXT season and beyond.

Lets trade Bauer and Kipnis to the Yanks for Urshela and Frazier.

Oh yeah, Kipnis has all kinds of value. Salary and all.

I think UD had in mind that Yanks get good young SP in return for a prospect (Frazier) and eating Kipnis’ salary. Nobody believes Kip has value any more, ‘cep maybe his mama.

By the way, Kudos to Loufla who smelled out Kipnis’ downfall before the rest of us. I remember replying, hey, he’s a 2 time all star, he’ll snap out of it.... pbbbbt.... Lou would have dumped him long ago while he did still have value. We all shoulda listened to Lou.

They have been trying for 2 years to get rid of the contract of Kipnis.

Last year of his contract, I thought he'd finally turn it back around this year.

Wrong. Guilty.

On the other hand, THIS guy got the memo:

Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI as the Mariners trounced the Angels 9-3 on Sunday.

The Mariners knocked six homers in the victory, with Encarnacion chipping in two of them. The first came in the sixth inning, a solo shot off former closer Cody Allen, and the second came an inning later, a two-run job against reliever Nick Tropeano.

The 36-year-old now has 20 homers, 46 RBI and 46 runs scored in 65 games, ranking among the best in the league in all three categories. Age, as they say, is just a number.

Last November, Cleveland and Pittsburgh pulled off a five-player trade that didn’t cause much of a stir, given the modest pedigree of the players involved. Maybe it should have, considering that Jordan Luplow is doing everything in his power to prop up Cleveland’s offense and keep his team in the race.

On Saturday against the Yankees, Luplow did a little of everything. He singled, doubled and walked, reaching base three times in four trips to the plate. He also made a helluva catch in the sixth inning, running down a Brett Gardner fly ball before banging into the wall in right-center. Thanks in large part to Luplow, Cleveland beat the Yankees 8-4, shaving a game off the Twins’ first-place lead in the AL Central while keeping pace in the wild-card chase.

Luplow’s become one of the deadliest platoon hitters in the league. Saturday’s big performance started against Yankees lefty CC Sabathia, and Luplow’s head hit the pillow Saturday night with his season line against southpaws sitting at a massive .309/.377/.764, with seven home runs in just 55 at-bats. Earlier in the week, Luplow banged a long home run off Twins reliever Blake Parker. The hit was notable because of Luplow’s huge splits, because Parker is a right-hander, and because that marked Luplow’s first long ball of the season against a righty.

Between Luplow’s lefty-mashing and some steady improvement from rookie Oscar Mercado (.300/.364/.486), Cleveland’s outfield — once its biggest weakness — is slowly starting to look downright playable.

Drennan interviewed asst GM Matt Formen today. They talked about a few of our top prospects that we are always talking about. But then he asked him what minor leaguer the fans might need to know about that isn’t talked about a lot. He said Nick Sandlin.

He was a 2nd round pick of ours last year. Righty reliever.

He started in AA this year but in Columbus now. So far on the year, totals across both, he has 2.29 ERA ... .194 BAA ... 1.17 Whip ... struck out 31 in 19.2 IP.

He throws a bit side arm, but has mid 90’s fastball and good slider. Might remember that name, probably be seeing him sooner rather than later. When we drafted him talked was he’d be a fast mover, and he has been.