Just In From the Desert

No sooner had I penciled Jason Donald (.308) in as the opening day third baseman, than he was scratched from a Saturday start with soreness in his left hand and has been instructed not to swing a bat for three days.  The hand, which was hit by a pitch on March 5th, held Donald out of Cactus League action for a week and was aggravated by a couple of hot shots that JD fielded at the hot corner.  A Saturday MRI revealed a bone bruise and, for those who have never had one, the pain therefrom is intense and inescapable.  With April 1 less than 3 weeks away, the Indians must now consider the very real possibility that they will have to find a replacement for their out-of-position third basemen without rushing their best 3B prospect (Lonnie Chisenhall) to the show and lacking the option of the second best (Jared Goedert) due to injury.  Again, I submit that Jayson Nix (.071) is NOT an option.  His unabashed butchery of the position is well documented and the Tribe would be better served with Carlos Santana returning to his natural position (not a real suggestion).  The pickings being slim, there are only three feasible options.  Luis Valbuena (.167) has gotten a ton of PT this spring, including significant reps at third.  While Luis has not shown the ability to hit with any consistency, he was my pick as the utility infielder before this whole debacle and I shall anoint him the #4 third bagger now.  Another (poor) option is (ugh) Jack Hannahan (.348, 0-3 today).  Hannahan has certainly shown up this spring and may benefit from the circumstances that have come to be, but Jack is a AAAA player with no future in Cleveland and no business taking up a roster spot.  Hannahan has proven that he can also play first, but with several players (Santana, Shelley Duncan, etc) also able to make spot starts, this utility is rather worthless.  The most intriguing option is Cord Phelps (.167).  Though Phelps cannot handle short, he is more than sufficient at both second and third.  Moreover, the Indians do not feel the need to "protect" him as they do Chisenhall.  It is unclear whether this is because Cord is better equipped mentally, not beset by Brobdingnagian expectation or is simply more "Major League ready."  My course of action would be to include both Valbuena and Phelps on the roster and platoon them until Donald is healthy or the Super 2 deadline passes.  The powers that be in the Indians organization do not consistently agree with my assessments, so their interpretation of reality remains to be seen.

This is the last time that I will mention David Huff (7.45), unless, perhaps, he is released.  Over two and two thirds today, Huff got shelled.  In giving up 4 earned on 6 hits and a walk, Dave looked awful.  The Padres nearly killed 2 or 3 fielders because they were hitting to ball so GD hard.  From here on out assume that Huff is on his way to Columbus.

Carlos Carrasco (5.63) started and got knocked around as well, to the tune of 3 earned runs on 6 hits in three innings.  Carrasco walked 1 and struck out 2 in taking his second loss of the spring.  As mentioned yesterday, performances like this may lead to a shuffling of rotation spots and perhaps a Josh Tomlin (1.13) ascending from the 5 spot.

Chris Perez (1.80) and Jensen Lewis (3.86) have bullpen spots secured and each tossed a clean inning with a K today.

Utility OF Battle:  Travis Buck (.375) had a hit and an RBI and was robbed of extra bases by a great catch in center.   Shelley Duncan (.250) struck out in his only plate appearance.

Backup Backstop:  Paul Phillips (.400) stood tall, stroking a homer and a double.  He is firmly entrenched to be the #2 catcher.  I haven't seen Luke Carlin in a week and it would take a monumental explosion of offense from Lou Marson (.143) to win the job.

25th Man:  Frank Herrmann (1.69) was slick in stranding two runners to get out of the 7th and close the book on Huff.  Herrmann is learning a split from '86 NL Cy Young winner Mike Scott (a close friend of Tribe third base coach Steve Smith) and throws it with more confidence in each appearance.  Big Frank has my vote for the last bullpen spot.

Who's Hot: Orlando Cabrera (.375, 1.037 OPS)

Who's Not: Um, Matt.  La.  Porta.  Down to .147 after another 0-fer.

Pitchers for 03.14: Justin Masterson starts against the A's @ 4:05 on STO.  They won't tell me who's in the pen, but I would guess Chad Durbin and perhaps Jeanmar Gomez are on the menu.

Cheers.