Cleveland promotes Oscar Mercado and Logan Allen, places Josh Naylor on 10-day injured list

Cleveland has promoted outfielder Oscar Mercado and pitcher Logan Allen, optioning left-handed reliever Kyle Nelson to Columbus and placing Josh Naylor on the 10-day injured list.

Naylor was carted off the field during Sunday’s game against the Twins after colliding with Ernie Clement in the outfield. The club announced Monday that Naylor has been diagnosed with a closed fracture and dislocation of his right ankle as a result of the collision. He will likely require surgery and is returning to Cleveland today for further evaluation. There is currently no timetable for his return, but I think it’s safe to say he won’t be back this season.

Mercado has been called up to replace Naylor on the roster. After failing to make the Opening Day roster, Mercado has spent the season with the Clippers, for whom he has slashed .216/.327/.392 in 203 plate appearances. Much of that can be contributed to a slow start in the month of May. After slashing .170/.263/.227 in the first month, Mercado has started to heat up in June, slugging eight doubles and five home runs en route to a .265/.388/.566 slash line for the month.

With Nelson being optioned to Columbus, Allen returns to the fold in Cleveland, presumably to help eat innings as a starter in the club’s patchwork rotation. He was optioned to the alternate training site back in April before being assigned to the Clippers after making five starts for the big league club. As poorly as he pitched for Cleveland — a 9.19 ERA, 4.02 BB/9, 4.02 HR/9 — he has arguably fared worse against minor league competition, recording a bloated 11.72 ERA in five starts for Columbus. Allen has not pitched since June 18.