This Week in Indians Baseball: Week 2

NEWS:

• The Johnny Damon signing became official on Tuesday, when the Indians announced that they had signed the veteran outfielder to a minor league deal. It is uncertain when Damon will be ready to join the team, but a call-up by May seems likely.
• Asdrubal Cabrera missed action this week after being placed on the bereavement list. He returned Venezuela after the death of his grandfather and is expected to return to the team this homestand.
• Nick Hagadone was called up to fill Cabrera’s roster spot. In his first appearance of 2012, Hagadone went 1.1 innings, allowing one walk and no hits with two strikeouts.
• The league handed down a five-game suspension to starter Jeanmar Gomez on Wednesday after he plunked Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas last weekend—a retaliatory beaning that cleared both benches. Gomez maintains that hitting Moustakas was unintentional and appealed the decision, but was likely to drop the appeal after his Saturday start.
• Chris Perez tweeted a controversial comment after Saturday’s game in reaction to the on-field confrontation with the Royals. He was fined $750 by the league.

INJURY UPDATES

• David Huff (strained right hamstring) pitched in a minor league rehab game April 20 with the Double-A Akron Aeros. He pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three.
• Grady Sizemore (recovering from back surgery) was cleared to participate in baseball activities and is expected to do so this week.

WAHOO’S ON FIRST HIGHLIGHTS

• Lewie made sense of what role Johnny Damon will fill with the Tribe.
• Lewie commemorated the anniversary of Bob Feller’s Opening Day no-hitter.
• Merritt previewed the series against Seattle and Brian previewed the series against Oakland.
• Lewie interviewed Bryant Bartlett from SoDo Mojo about the Seattle Mariners and Jason Leary from Swingin’ A’s about the Oakland Athletics.
• Lewie summarized Geordy’s 2012 Indians top prospect list.
• Merritt took a look at the Tribe’s infield defense.
• Brian compared the Indians’ and Tigers’ bullpens.
• Geordy projected the Indians’ 2015 lineup.
• In this week’s Wroundtable, we debated how the Indians should use Damon.

WEEKLY TRIVIA:

• Hagadone made his 2012 debut in his hometown of Seatlle.
• The Indians lead all of baseball with 76 walks so far.
• Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to a team-leading seven games on Saturday. The streak ended on Sunday.
• Going into Saturday’s game, Jason Kipnis was mired in an 0-for-10 streak. He had a four-hit night, driving in three RBIs.
• With the road series victories over the Royals, Mariners and Athletics, the Indians have opened up the year with three straight road series wins for the first time since 1988.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“I couldn’t be any prouder of my Little Cowboy.”—Manny Acta after Josh Tomlin’s strong start, April 19.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jack Hannahan

Hannahan came up big when it counted last week—particularly with his ninth inning two-run single that put the Tribe on top in their 2-1 victory in Seattle Thursday. Over the last seven days, Hannahan has hit .369 and leads the team with six RBI in five games.

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