Indians news and notes: Seeking a solution to the Yan Gomes problem

It’s pretty late as I write this and it’s a little hard to focus on baseball for a few reasons. First off, the Indians didn’t play on Thursday. Secondly, there was some other thing happening that sapped a lot of my sports energy. But hey, I’m gonna give it my best. Here’s what’s up around MLB:

Indians news & notes

A partial solution to a partially-known problem | Burning River Baseball - Yan Gomes has been really bad this year. Even accounting for the league-wide decline in offense from the catcher position, Gomes has been the worst of the bunch. Despite showing flashes of potential to turn it around, he’s fallen back into a trench, and is also enduring some terrible luck. But could this be a Jhonny Peralta-esque situation, wherein Gomes is legitimately having trouble seeing the ball? Or will the Indians have to learn to live with a bad offensive catcher who can still defend and call a great game?

How to talk to your friends and family about the Indians bullpen | Burning River Baseball - Bullpens have the power to make or break a playoff-caliber team, and the the Tribe’s pen has shown flashes of make-age and break-age thus far. But the break-age tends to stand out more. So what’s the deal? There are a lot of options in the Indians’ bullpen, so why does it seem like the roles are so set in stone?

Kluber’s career comes full circle for father | Indians.com - Jim Kluber grew up rooting for the Rocky Calavito-era Indians. At the time Corey was traded to Cleveland, it meant more to his father than to Corey, who had no ties to the city. For the man who has played catch with his son to start every year of his baseball career, the whole thing still feels surreal.

Will the Indians make a trade or seek help from within? (video) | Cleveland.com - After a a disappointing sweep at the hands of the Royals, the Indians share a tenuous lead in the AL Central with KC. Zack Meisel discusses what it will take to build and sustain that lead.

News from around the league

• David Wright is scheduled for a neck surgery that may end his season
• Fangraphs details the dangers of buying low on an aging star
• CBS sports ranks every team’s mascot, and places the Royals’ garbage mascot way too high
• Rougned Odor kinda-sorta-but-not-really apologized for his role in the fight smackdown with Jose Bautista
• Ken Griffey Jr. has been named a youth ambassador to help grow baseball’s popularity in the US and Canada