Barring any other injuries or unforeseen events the Cleveland Indians finished picking its 25 men to begin the season with yesterday.
Left-hander Zach Jackson earned the final bullpen spot Vinnie Chulk. Outfielder Trevor Crowe was also recalled to replace Dave Dellucci, who is heading to the disabled list with a strained calf.
Here is the roster breakdown, per Paul Hoynes:
• Starting rotation (five):
Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Carl Pavano, Scott Lewis and Anthony Reyes.
• Bullpen (seven):
Kerry Wood, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, Jensen Lewis, Joe Smith, Masa Kobayashi and Jackson.
• Catchers (two):
Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach.
• Infielders (seven):
Ryan Garko, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta, Mark DeRosa, Jamey Carroll, Josh Barfield and Travis Hafner.
• Outfielders (four):
Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Francisco and Trevor Crowe.
Trevor Crowe’s parents were thrilled with the news that their baby boy will make the opening day roster, according to Sheldon Ocker.
My personal opinion but, Crowe’s stay in Cleveland could be short lived. I get the feeling that the Indians would rather he get more polish in Triple A as opposed to rotting on the Cleveland bench, hence why he was sent down i nthe first place.
Right now Crowe is the fourth outfielder on a team that has also groomed Ryan Garko and Josh Barfield for the outfield. Mark DeRosa and Jamey Carroll can play there as well.
This doesn’t leave many at bats for Crowe. Although he will play ahead of Barfield, the Tribe may elect to get more veteran bats in the lineup more often than not.
Crowe, who spent three years in Double A Akron, should be playing close to everyday right now. He won’t get that with the major league club.
Wedge has harped about his pinch-running ability, not exactly a vote for great playing time.
Although Wedge is also unhappy with the play of starting right fielder Shin-Soo Choo and says he is not ready to play everyday yet, so maybe I am completely wrong. Time will tell.
On another note, the Indians did make a minor move yesterday as they sent minor league left hander Shawn Nottingham to the Pirates for a player to be named later.
Nottingham, a Massillon native and 2003 graduate of Jackson High School, has struggled with Single A Kinston and Double A Akron after coming to the Tribe from the Mariners organization in the Ben Broussard trade.
The Best of the Rest…
Pat McManamon is starting to talk about the Tribe a little bit and looks at the question marks this season, mostly sketchy pitching.
Terry Pluto likes what he sees from Clippers ace David Huff. Pluto also did his usual notebook.
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This whole World Baseball Classic has got to end. Why should teams fighting for MLB playoffs have to risk their top players getting hurt or coming back in less-than-game shape? Choo is being counted on heavily with the Tribe, so it stinks if we have to baby him along. Looking at the roster of hitters above, does anyone really strike fear into opposing pitchers? The only way we’re productive is if we string hits together, and that’s relying on more than one person to be hot at the same time. We’ve all seen (for months at a time) what happens when the team goes cold at the same time. We don’t score, we don’t win.