TJ House throws scoreless inning for AZL Scorpions in first outing since June

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher TJ House threw a scoreless inning and recorded a strikeout throwing for the AZL Scottsdale Scorpions last night. This was his first action since June when he was sidelined with lingering shoulder inflammation.

Facing only three batters in a relief appearance, House forced Milwaukee Brewers farmhand Yadiel Rivera into a groundout, struck Jose Trevino out, and caused Ramon Torres to fly out to right. Also, in the same game, Indians prospect Todd Hankins was 2-3 with two walks and an RBI.

It’s been a rough season for TJ House. After looking like a legitimate rotation option following a 3.35 ERA 2014 season, House started 2015 in a tailspin and it only went downhill from there. His first four (and only) starts of 2015 were all hard to watch. He started with a six-run,1.1 inning performance against the Detroit Tigers, then followed that up by allowing five runs, three runs, and five runs again in his final three starts.

Obviously, House did not look good in any of the starts with a cumulative 13.15 ERA and 12 walks. It was finally discovered why he was struggling when the Indians placed him on the 15-day disabled list on May 1. At the time, the injury looked like a standard shoulder inflammation issue that would be resolved by rest (or even a "disabled list" trip to let House take some time off to work on his mechanics), but things did not get better when he started his rehab starts in the minors.

House made one start in A-ball, where he looked fine, then four starts in Triple-A with mixed-bag results. On June 10 House was placed on the minor league disabled list and never played again in 2015. House then (rightly) filed a grievance on August 14 and was placed on the Major League disabled list, due to his initial injury occurring while he was with the Indians big league club.

With the emergence of Cody Anderson and Josh Tomlin in the rotation, TJ House returning to his 2014 form would be great for pitching depth, and mean that when one of those three begin to struggle (which they probably will at some point), the Indians will be prepared. You cannot argue with more pitching.

House also posted an Instagram photo "from the day that everything happened" with an image from his April 25 outing against Detroit. Presumably, this is when his shoulder went haywire. Best of luck on your recovery, TJ!