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Indians Sign George Kontos

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The Indians have signed reliever George Kontos to a minor league contract, according to an announcement from the team.

Kontos debuted in the majors with the Yankees in 2011 and has since pitched for the Giants and Pirates. The Bucs released the 32-year-old this week after he opened the season with 18 2/3 innings of 5.03 ERA ball. Kontos has generally been successful in the majors, however, as he carries a 3.11 ERA with 7.25 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 43.3 percent groundball rate over 350 innings. Along the way, the righty has held same-handed hitters to a a paltry .228/.270/.374 line and limited lefties to a .236/.325/.381 mark.

Kontos seemingly stands a chance of returning to the bigs in Cleveland, whose bullpen has been a disaster this year. Indians relievers rank dead last in ERA (5.92) and third from the bottom in fWAR (minus-0.6). The club has been on the lookout for established relievers as a result, and already signed Oliver Perez this weekend before adding Kontos.

Indians Sign Oliver Perez, Designate Jeff Beliveau

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The Indians search for bullpen help continues, as Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports that the club has signed lefty Oliver Perez to a major league deal. The club has designated fellow left-hander Jeff Beliveau for assignment in a corresponding move.

The Yankees released Perez from his minors contract just yesterday; as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd pointed out at that time, he’d received a June 1st opt-out date in his contract with the club due to his status as an Article XX(B) free agent. Perez struck out 10.5 batters per nine innings while walking 3.9 across the past two seasons with the Washington Nationals, and the Indians will hope he can serve as another reliable lefty reliever behind Tyler Olson while former ALCS MVP Andrew Miller rehabs a knee issue.

As Bastian aptly pointed out, Perez will end up being the 15th relief pitcher used by the Indians this season, whereas they only used 13 relievers for the entirety of 2017 (position players and starters coming out of the bullpen excluded). Those relievers have combined to post an ERA north of 6, good for the worst mark in the majors. While it would be silly to think that Perez can have a significant impact on that figure, he’s got a long resume of effective performance against same-handed hitters. On the whole, he’s limited those lefties to a .228/.318/.365.

In any case, that makes him an upgrade over Beliveau, who’s at times seemed incapable of getting any outs at all. Beliveau’s got a gargantuan ERA of 11.57 this season, and remarkably, his FIP suggests he’s been lucky to have posted even that figure. Of course, this all comes in a 4 2/3 inning sample size, but Indians fans will surely be glad to see Beliveau replaced in the bullpen regardless.

 

Latest On Danny Salazar

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The Indians are still searching for answers on Danny Salazar’s ailing right shoulder, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Salazar, 28, has been out all season due to a right shoulder impingement that is causing tendinitis, and he’s currently not throwing after receiving a pair of injections in his shoulder this month. He will be re-evaluated by team medical officials in the coming days.

FanRag’s Jon Heyman, though, paints an even more ominous picture when it comes to Salazar, reporting in this week’s notes column that the Indians don’t expect Salazar to return until September, if he returns at all this season. For a club that has seen considerable struggles both at the fifth spot in the rotation and in the bullpen, that’s a most unwelcome timeline for a clearly talented arm that, if healthy, would give Cleveland one of the top rotations in all of baseball.

Fans of the team, clearly, will hope that there’s still some possibility of a more optimistic prognosis. The recent track record, though, does not inspire much confidence. Shoulder troubles slowed Salazar in 2017 as well, when the right-hander was limited to just 103 innings. More generally, durability concerns have plagued him throughout his MLB tenure, as he’s topped 25 appearances and 140 innings in just one season — his 185-inning 2015 campaign.

If Salazar is indeed out of the picture for the foreseeable future, the Indians will  have to determine whether Shane Bieber or Adam Plutko will occupy the fifth spot in the rotation behind Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger now that Josh Tomlin has been dropped to the bullpen. They’ll also need to plan for ways in which they can upgrade their bullpen without relying on the possibility of a healthy Salazar returning to supplement a group that has struggled through multiple DL stints to Andrew Miller. Clearly, the team has missed the reliable innings it got last year from setup men Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith (though Shaw has struggled considerably in his own right in his first season with the Rockies).

A prolonged absence for Salazar would not only be a blow to the Indians but would also potentially impact his future standing with the organization. Salazar entered the 2018 season with three years, 162 days of Major League service time and will be arbitration-eligible for the third time as a Super Two player this offseason. He’s earning $5MM this year and would likely command that same figure in arbitration were he to miss the whole year, while he’d probably receive a small bump if he returns to contribute in any capacity this September. While that’s hardly an exorbitant amount to pay for a pitcher of Salazar’s considerable upside, the Indians don’t generally have ample cash reserves to work with and could end up facing a tough call.

Angels Claim Oliver Drake

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The Angels have claimed reliever Oliver Drake off waivers from the Indians, per a club announcement. He had been designated recently by the Cleveland organization.

Meanwhile, the Halos also announced that southpaw Ian Krol cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. It is not yet clear if he accepted the assignment to the club’s top affiliate.

The 31-year-old Drake has had a rough go of things this year. He opened the season with the Brewers and then landed with the Indians. Despite recording 19 strikeouts and a 46.0% groundball rate in his 17 frames, he has coughed up 15 earned runs on 21 hits and nine walks on the year.

For the Halos, Drake will provide a fresh arm that still holds its share of intrigue. He has, after all, managed a 13.1% swinging-strike rate this season and has surely been unlucky to carry only a 51.6% strand rate and .412 batting average on balls put in play against him. Indeed, Statcast credits him with an appealing .311 xwOBA that significantly lags the actual .353 wOBA that has been produced by opposing hitters.

Indians Promote Shane Bieber

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MAY 31: The move is official. Righty Ben Taylor was optioned to open an active roster spot, while fellow righty Nick Goody was moved from the 10-day to the 60-day DL for a 40-man opening.

MAY 28: The Indians are set to promote top pitching prospect Shane Bieber for his first MLB action, skipper Terry Francona announced (via Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal, on Twitter). Bieber is slated to receive a start on Thursday, which is also his 23rd birthday.For the time being, it’s expected only to be a spot start.

Since he was taken in the fourth-round of the 2016 draft out of UCSB, Bieber has zipped up the ladder in the Cleveland farm system.In 2017, his first full season as a pro, Bieber threw 173 1/3 innings of 2.86 ERA ball with a shiny 162:10 K/BB ratio.

The results have been even better thus far in 2018. In ten starts — five apiece between Double-A and Triple-A — he has allowed just eight earned runs on 43 hits over 65 1/3 innings, while racking up a ridiculous mix of 61 strikeouts against just three free passes.

Prospect evaluators have increasingly taken notice of Bieber’s sustained output. MLB.com just bumped him onto its top-100 list, crediting him with four useful pitches that he (obviously) commands with aplomb. Clearly, there’s some question whether Bieber’s pure stuff is all that compelling, but it seems his off-the-charts ability to spot the ball will likely make him a useful major-league hurler.

The Indians obviously believe that Bieber is ready now to begin contributing at the game’s highest level. Though he’s only scheduled to get the ball once before being demoted, the move will put Bieber on the 40-man roster. He could well be the top available arm if a future need arises, whether that’s in the rotation or a bullpen unit that has struggled mightily thus far.

Indians Acquire Myles Jaye From Twins

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Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Indians announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Myles Jaye from the Twins in exchange for cash. He’ll join the rotation for Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, per the announcement. The 26-year-old Jaye made his MLB debut with the Tigers last season but was rocked for 17 earned runs on 18 hits and 10 walks in 12 2/3 innings at the MLB level. Jaye, a former 17th-round pick (Blue Jays, 2010), has a solid track record of preventing runs at the Triple-A level (3.81 ERA, 141 2/3 innings). He’s off to a decent start in Triple-A this year, having pitched to a 4.25 ERA in 42 1/3 frames — albeit with a middling 19-to-15 K/BB ratio in that time. With Adam Plutko and Shane Bieber emerging as rotation options at the MLB level, the addition of Jaye will give the Cleveland organization some additional depth.
  • The White Sox have signed left-hander Jairo Labourt, per an announcement from the team’s Double-A affiliate (hat tip: The Athletic’s James Fegan, on Twitter). The lefty has bounced all over the league since being designated for assignment by the Tigers in March when the team signed Francisco Liriano. Labourt went from Detroit to Cincinnati to Oakland via waivers before being released by the A’s, after which he returned to the Tigers. He didn’t pitch for a Tigers affiliate this year, though, before once again being cut loose. Labourt, once a fairly well-regarded prospect who went from Toronto to Detroit as part of the David Price blockbuster, has developed some alarming control issues over the past year. In 28 innings between Triple-A and the Majors last year, Labourt walked 30 batters.

Indians Select Jeff Beliveau, Option Adam Plutko

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The Indians announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of left-handed reliever Jeff Beliveau from Triple-A Columbus and optioned right-hander Adam Plutko to Columbus in his place. Cleveland’s 40-man roster is now full.

Beliveau, 31, will return to the Indians for a second stint this season. He allowed four runs on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings for Cleveland earlier this season before being designated for assignment, outrighted, and accepting an assignment to Triple-A. He’s notched a 22-to-4 K/BB ratio in 15 1/3 innings with Columbus this season.

[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians depth chart]

The 26-year-old Plutko pitched quite well in his first two starts of the season and flirted with a no-hitter against the Cubs on May 23, though the White Sox knocked him around for five runs in his most recent start. With prospect Shane Bieber stepping up for a spot start on Thursday this week, the Indians won’t need a fifth starter for the foreseeable future, so Plutko can head back to Triple-A to work on regular rest before potentially returning at some point in June.

It’s possible, though, that Bieber steps up and seizes the fifth spot in the rotation that was vacated earlier this month when Cleveland shifted Josh Tomlin to the bullpen. It’ll likely be a performance-based decision, but both right-handers seem likely to play significant roles on Cleveland’s pitching staff through season’s end. Each has been outstanding in the minors thus far, and the Indians have seen their bullpen struggle while receiving little from the fifth spot in their rotation.

Indians Place Andrew Miller On 10-Day DL

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According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, Indians lefty Andrew Miller is headed back to the DL with right knee inflammation. It’s the same knee issue that caused him problems last year, which is surely incredibly disheartening news to a Cleveland ballclub whose bullpen situation just seems to keep getting worse. For the time being, the Indians have recalled right-hander Evan Marshall from Triple-A Columbus.

A separate tweet from Bastian reveals that the knee has been an underlying issue “the entire time” this season, according to manager Terry Francona. That could be considered good news in the sense that it helps explain Miller’s uncharacteristic struggles this season (he’s pitched to a 4.40 ERA this season, which would be his career high as a full-time reliever). However, it’s obviously deeply concerning news considering the Tribe’s desperate need for Miller to put his health issues behind him and help shore up a bullpen with a 6.23 ERA on the season.

Though Miller’s 14.44 K/9 is right in line with his marks in recent years, it’s his 6.28 BB/9 that stands out as an alarming red flag. That’s more than double his full-season mark in any of the past four years. There’s currently no timetable for his return, but it seems likely that the Indians will proceed with extreme caution considering Miller’s value to the club in the postseason. Despite having a sub-.500 record, Cleveland is currently leading the AL Central and is considered a strong favorite to win the division for the third consecutive year.

Indians Designate Oliver Drake, Recall Ben Taylor

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Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets that the Indians have designated right-handed reliever Oliver Drake for assignment and recalled fellow righty Ben Taylor from Triple-A to take his roster spot. Drake was charged with six earned runs in last night’s game against the Astros.

It’s the latest turn in the revolving door that’s been the Indians’ bullpen this season as they desperately search for lightning in a bottle to stabilize their relief corps. The Tribe’s bullpen currently ranks dead last in baseball with a 6.23 ERA, and have suffered many a loss at the hands of relievers who simply can’t seem to preserve leads for their stellar starting rotation. Last night’s loss may have been one of the most disheartening yet, as Indians fans watched Corey Kluber shut out Houston over 6 1/3 strong innings only to groan later as a five different relievers combined to allow four earned runs in the eighth inning and seven more in the ninth.

For Drake’s part in that nightmare, he allowed base hits to five Astros and beaned one more. All six of those players crossed the plate, and Drake managed to record just two outs. He’d been generally good for the Indians in three appearances prior to that, striking out four batters in 3 2/3 innings after being acquired from the Orioles. It’s worth noting that in his four appearances as an Indian, he owns a 12.46 ERA but a 2.65 FIP (though the microscopic sample size probably renders those numbers somewhat pointless).

As for Taylor, he’ll be up for his second stint with the Indians, having allowed just a single earned run in 3 1/3 innings so far this season while striking out five of the 13 hitters he faced. Prior to this season, Taylor had spent his entire career in the Red Sox organization. On the whole, he owns a 4.79 ERA and 4.26 FIP for his career across 20 2/3 innings.

 

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/24/18

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We’ll use this post to track the day’s minor moves:

  • The Indians have added righty Mitch Talbot on a minors deal, per MLBTR’s Steve Adams (via Twitter). He’ll join the rotation at Triple-A Columbus, taking the place of the recently promoted Adam Plutko. Talbot last appeared in the majors with the Indians way back in 2011 and had not been with an MLB organization since 2013. In the interim, he has pitched in the independent leagues and KBO. Last year, Talbot spun 110 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with 8.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 for the Sugar Land Skeeters.
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