Trying something we rarely do here: some quick links around the Indians side of the internet. Let me know if this is something you find terribly irritating. If not, maybe we'll do it more often.
- Paul Hoynes via twitter: #Indians catcher Carlos Santana caught a 9 a.m. flight back to Cleveland to have tests and an MRI on his left knee this afternoon.
- Steve Buffum, writing yesterday on Neyer's ESPN blog, points out how important it was to make room for LaPorta by moving Branyan.
- "This is the happiest I've ever been in my baseball career," said Acta..."This is a real good situation. It's a little bit more advanced than the one I had in the past because the amount of pieces already in place here and the rich farm system we have here." That's via the Newark Star-Ledger, with a h/t to the P-D's links roundup.
- Buster Olney, via video blog, calls Santana "the most important part of the Indians organization" and questions the wisdom of catchers blocking the plate at all.
Player Notes (links are to player pages, not news items)
- Chisenhall has been trending upward steadily since his shoulder issue in May; he now appears red-hot, with four homeruns in his last ten games. Akron plays a doubleheader tonight, starting at 5 pm.
- You are a witness to the best season of Shelley Duncan's career to date.
- Carmona made another excellent start last night: of his 21 starts not shortened by rain this season, he has gone six innings or more in 18 of them. He hasn't pitched well in all of those starts but seemed worth pointing out that FC has been an innings eater. His 138.0 IP so far would already have been second on the 2009 Indians, behind Cliff Lee.
- Finally, the Indians will face Josh Beckett tonight. Beckett has had a very bad season, even by the standards of a failing card valuing periodical, with an ERA over 6. However, since returning to the Red Sox on July 23, he's made two starts, pitching 12.2 innings, striking out ten, and surrendering only 4 runs.