The Indians made a series of roster moves today, most notably the placement (retroactive to July 22) of outfielder Tyler Naquin on the 10-day injured list due to a fractured toe. Right-hander Zach Plesac was called up to take Naquin’s spot, getting an early promotion to the active roster since Plesac is scheduled to start Tuesday’s game. In other moves, right-hander Hunter Wood was outrighted off the 40-man roster and assigned to the Tribe’s minor league camp.
Naquin suffered the injury on Monday after fouling a pitch off his foot during an exhibition game. Cleveland already called up Daniel Johnson for outfield depth while Naquin was recovering, but it appears Naquin will need more time to get back to full health. The hairline fracture is just the latest injury to befall Naquin, whose 2018 and 2019 seasons were both cut short by hip surgery and a torn ACL, respectively. Since finishing third in AL Rookie Of The Year voting in 2016, Naquin has only appeared in 169 games due to both injuries and inconsistency at the plate, though he posted a solid .288/.325/.467 slash line over 294 PA in 2019.
With Naquin out, Cleveland has Johnson, Greg Allen, Jordan Luplow, Bradley Zimmer, Franmil Reyes, and Domingo Santana as available options for the corner outfield slots, though Reyes ismore likely to be kept in designated hitter duty. Since the club thought Naquin might be able to avoid an IL stint altogether, that could imply he might be able to return after only the minimum ten days, or perhaps not long beyond.
Wood was designated for assignment on Thursday, and will now remain in the organization after clearing waivers. Acquired in a trade with the Rays last summer, Wood has a 3.32 ERA, 2.70 K/BB rate, and 8.4 K/9 over 86 2/3 career innings with Cleveland and Tampa Bay, though the home run ball has given him some issues during his brief time in the big leagues. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted at the time of the move, it was rather surprising that the Tribe chose to DFA Wood, and it is perhaps even more surprising that none of the other 29 teams put in a claim while the righty was on waivers.
shocked Wood cleared
Yes. You’d figure some team would take a chance on him.
Especially with the expanded rosters.
Even if his performance was a little fluky, you cannot convince me the Orioles, Tigers, Giants etc. Have 8-9 better relievers.
I agree. Heck BoSox could have used him I would think.
Naquin is hurt? I guess that means inside a week Zimmer will get hurt as well.
I hate to speculate these things but I have to wonder if he has a “bad clubhouse” guy mantra attached to his name in the inner circles –
No way this arm should be out of baseball. That hair, most certainly!
I get why you are wondering that, given the fact that nobody else picked him up. However I don’t think Cleveland would assign him to minor league camp if that was the case. They had him in the clubhouse last season, and Francona places value in how guys fit in the clubhouse.
I wish Zach Plesac becomes similar to Dan (Zach’s uncle). Dan was a pretty decent pitcher and was on several teams close to the World Series. If Zach can learn from Dan, what a boost to a team that has Zach. If he becomes better than Dan, it would be great to see