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After the trials and tribulations of the weekend, it's something of a relief (for me at least) that there isn't a game to report back on today. Hopefully, having had a little time to regroup, the Tribe will be back all guns blazing with Carrasco on the mound against the White Sox today.
Anyhow, as Jason reported last night, the Tribe has just signed RP Ryan Webb to a minor league deal. Although Webb is going to AAA, there has to be a pretty good chance that we'll see him in Cleveland before too long. Given that the Dodgers are basically paying nearly all of his $2.75MM salary, this seems like a very neat move by the FO. Here's the full story on the Webb deal:
Cleveland Indians sign relief pitcher Ryan Webb | Let's Go Tribe (Jason)
Cleveland Indians sign veteran reliever Ryan Webb; send him to Class AAA Columbus | cleveland.com
Other Indians news & notes
How screwed are the Indians after key injuries? Pretty screwed | MLB Daily Dish
Personally I don't agree one iota with the author's assertion that Perez and Hayes are "both the very definition of replacement level" and that the Tribe will be exploring replacements for Gomes via trade. Obviously, Perez isn't in the same class as Gomes, but IMHO he's better than the current starters on several other MLB teams. Unless Perez gets injured, the Tribe should be able to manage fairly adequately at backstop until Gomes returns, although I guess Hayes could potentially be replaced via trade or otherwise. Go get 'em, Roberto!
5 Tribe Overreactions From Week One | CBS Cleveland
TJ Zuppe takes a more balanced approach to the bullpen, the back end of the rotation, the Gomes injury, Brandon Moss and the SI jinx.
Cleveland Indians need strong pitching to overcome some real problems | cleveland.com
Terry Pluto analyzes the Tribe's current predicaments.
Reacting to early season velocity data | FanGraphs
Apparently Zach McAllister's velocity uptick is "real". However, as we all saw on Friday, that might mean very little if his curveball remains so ineffective that he is reduced to just throwing fastballs all the time.
Hidden-ball trick during Triple-A game leaves broadcasters in silent confusion | MLB.com
Just in case, you missed it, here's the story (and video) of Jesus Aguilar's amazing hidden-ball trick play with the Clippers a few days ago.
Tidbits from around MLB
Looking at (way too early) offensive trends | Beyond the Box Score
"It's generally not a good idea to make grand pronouncements on a season only five games in, but let's have some fun and make them anyway." Scott Lindholm
Kris Bryant's possible debut this week and more hot topics. | SportsonEarth.com
Anthony Castrovince's weekly round-up of the upcoming MLB action.
Yankees Sign Kyle Davies | MLB Trade Rumors
The 31yo Davies spent the whole of 2014 in the Clippers' rotation before being signed by the Yankees as a MiLB free agent in February. Anyhow, they promoted him to the 25-man on Sunday and he was used as a long reliever in the 14-4 blow-out against the Red Sox (2.1 IP, 0 ER/R, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 SO). He's practically never been used as a reliever before in his entire career - time will tell whether the Tribe might have missed a small trick there!?
Masahiro Tanaka struggled again | HardballTalk
One of the reasons that Davies was in was because Tanaka had another poor start (although it wasn't as bad as his season debut). Many of us were surprised last year that Tanaka and the Yankees opted not to go down the surgery route with his UCL injury. Unfortunately, right now he seems to be the shadow of the pitcher who exploded onto the MLB scene a year ao.