Author: JEC (Page 21 of 46)

So much for making up ground on the White Sox. The Indians lost the first game of this weekend’s big series in Chicago 6-4 Friday night. Coco Crisp had another big game, homering for the second-straight night and driving in three runs, but Jake Westbrook allowed four runs in the first and two more in the fifth to fall to 2-8 on the season. After evening out at .500 against Minnesota, the Indians have lost three-straight and, unless they can pull it together for these final two games of the series, they’re in danger of falling out of the Central race.

Somehow, some way, Ryan Ludwick cleared waivers and was optioned to AAA, the Indians announced today. Mark Shapiro should consider himself very lucky, because nobody expected Ludwick to make it through waivers. It’s too bad the team already activated Coco Crisp, though, considering Crisp was brought back a couple weeks earlier than the team really wanted to. You just hope he doesn’t reinjure the thumb.

Following another hard-fought series with the Minnesota Twins, the Indians now need to turn their attention to the Chicago White Sox. Sunday’s 4-3 loss really stung, giving the Twins a 2-1 series victory, but with three games this weekend against the division-leading White Sox, the Indians can still tighten up the Central standings. And hopefully the Yankees, fresh off getting swept by Buddy Bell’s Royals — who still own the worst record in baseball — will extract some revenge from the Twins in Minnesota this weekend.

So let me get this straight.

Aaron Boone is hitting .158 with four homers and a .261 slugging percentage. Ryan Ludwick has just as many home runs in 112 fewer at-bats with a .512 slugging percentage. So who gets bumped to make room for Juan Gonzalez?

Not the guy with 24 hits and 35 strikeouts on the year. Not the guy with seven errors and a .942 fielding percentage. Not the guy who’s coming off major knee surgery.

And, most importantly, not the guy who actually has options left.

Mark Shapiro placing so much faith in Juan Gonzalez was a severe miscalculation. If you want to bring this guy up and find out what he’s got left, great — I was anxious to see just how much Gonzalez could contribute. But not at the expense of losing Ryan Ludwick. If I’ve got to choose between Aaron Boone and Ryan Ludwick, understanding that Boone can be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers, I choose Ludwick every time. Shapiro rolled the dice and now that Gonzalez is back on the DL — after one at-bat!? — the Indians are forced to choose between calling up some Triple-A scrub like Ernie Young or activating Coco Crisp a week earlier than they wanted to.

Wow, those are two really fantastic options. Better yet, let’s jump in the ol’ time machine, send Boone’s ass down to Triple-A so he can find his swing, and keep Ryan Ludwick around. Shapiro really screwed this one up. This situation reminds me of the Brian Giles fiasco, but at least John Hart got Ricardo Rincon for Giles.

Make it four wins in a row. Behind a solid performance from C.C. Sabathia, the Indians beat the Twins Tuesday night 4-3, moving to .500 on the year and gaining another game on the Twins in the standings. As of this writing, meanwhile, the White Sox are tied 4-4 with the Angels in the ninth.

This should be another great series with Minnesota, and this game is the perfect way to start a pivotal road trip. Ben Broussard again delivered a couple big hits, belting a solo homer in the fifth after doubling in his first plate appearance. Even better, Victor Martinez stayed hot, going 2-for-3 with a monster two-run homer in the sixth. Juan Gonzalez, meanwhile, left the game in the first after aggravating his hamstring injury while running out a weak grounder.