Another week, another outfielder on the shelf:
Michaels should be ready to play once the calendar turns to July. Casey Blake might be ready before the All-Star Break. Which means Franklin Gutierrez, Todd Hollandsworth, and Joe Inglett will fill in the corner spots for at least the next week. The Indians didn't replace Michaels with an outfielder, but used the open spot to get Jeremy Sowers on the roster.
Sowers' debut tomorrow has been getting a lot of attention for three main reasons. One, he's the first pitcher selected in the first round of a draft to make a start for the Indians since CC Sabathia. Two, he's made it to the big leagues in eighteen months. And three, it gives fans a diversion from the regularly scheduled drudgery of a 33-40 team.
That being said, he's going to go through an adjustment period. He's not going to work miracles with this team because of his presence, and right now, a miracle is about the only thing that will get the Indians into the playoffs. But it will be fun to see Sowers' first start knowing that he's probably going to be part of the rotation for a long while, and the first time for anything is always memorable. Two years from now, when the prospect sheen has worn off and we're picking apart his BABIP and strikeout rates, remember when we didn't know that much about Sowers except that he had good minor-league numbers and that he was a first-round pick. And we looked forward to him arriving in Cleveland because we got tired of that veteren guy, what was his name?