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Tribe items
Terry Francona says Michael Brantley is "turning into one of the better players in the game." He's certainly turned into the best hitter on the Indians, and if he even comes close to keeping up his current pace, he'll absolutely deserve to be named an All-Star.
Paul Hoynes' daily notes from yesterday include word that Lonnie Chisenhall will see some time at first base while Nick Swisher is on the DL (Lonnie saw some time there last night, in fact) and that Zach McAllister threw a 50-pitch bullpen session on Monday, and is expected to throw again on Friday.
Michael Nestel at Beyond the Box Score wonders if we should have seen Carlos Santana's struggles coming. I can buy the argument that the new position has interfered with his offense to some extent, but I'm never going to expect a good hitter to put up a batting average like Carlos has so far.
Also at BtBS, Jeff Wiser looks at the significant contracts the Tribe has handed out over the last year and a half, and checks in on how they're looking so far. Here's a freebie: MIchael Brantley's is looking good!
Minor League Ball is looking for some input on the Indians' picks for a mock draft, if you've got opinions you'd like to share.
Around MLB
Baseball-Reference is offering a bounty on any legitimate scorecard/record of one of the games that is missing in the Retrosheet records. There's a link you can follow to find which games are missing, and if you've got an uncle or grandmother or someone who regularly kept score, you might be just the person to claim the reward.
50 Cent made one of the worst ceremonial first pitches you'll ever see last night.
Royals starter Yordano Ventura exited Monday's start early with elbow pain, leading to fears of the worst, but he's nowonly expected to miss one start.
Edwin Encarnacion has tied a Blue Jays record for most home runs in a month by hitting his 14th in May off Alex Cobb in last night's 9-6 win over the Rays. He now has 16 on the season, 1 behind leader Nelson Cruz.