Indians place Nick Swisher and David Murphy on DL, call up Tyler Holt and Zach Walters

The Indians have placed Nick Swisher and David Murphy on the DL, after each exited Saturday afternoon's game early. Swisher's right knee is bothering him again, while Murphy suffered some sort of abdominal strain. Both of them are expected to undergo an MRI on Monday or Tuesday, at which time the full extent of their injuries will become more clear.

Swisher has been a disaster this season, with horrible offensive numbers and awful defense too. While it's possible that given the chance to rest, his knee will recover fully, and it's possible that such a recovery would get him back to being a good hitter. I think it's more likely that's he's never any better than average again, and the next two years involve the Indians paying him a whole lot of money for very little production.

Murphy hasn't been great this season, but he's had some really big hits, and his overall offensive production has been about average. He hasn't been a big boost to the team, but he's been capable, given what's been asked of him (batting against a lot more lefties than the team originally planned on).

Outfielder Tyler Holt and newly acquired (for Asdrubal Cabrera) utility man Zach Walters have been called up from Columbus to fill the open spots on the roster. Holt has been up for a couple brief stint already this season, though he saw very little playing time in either trip, while Walters will be making his Indians debut, after getting a few at bats with the Nationals this season and in 2013.

Honestly, I think there's a good chance these moves improve the Tribe. Swisher has been so bad, that getting almost anyone else's bat and glove into the lineup would be an upgrade. Murphy is an actual loss, but only a very minor one, given his modest offense and below average defense. Holt is a plus defender, capable of playing center field, and while Walters has more experience in the infield, he's recently had some reps in the outfield, and has a .980 OPS in Triple-A this season, with 17 home runs in 268 at bats.

Move Brantley back to left field, play Holt in center (Michael Bourn should be back any day now, and Holt's role should change at that point), and play Walters in right field against righties (I'd play him against lefties too, but I suspect Francona will keep giving Ryan Raburn those opportunities).

Playoff contention is on the verge of vanishing for this time, and I'd like to see both these guys get regular playing time over the next few weeks.