This Week In Indians Baseball: Week 7

NEWS:

• On Tuesday, the Indians announced that Mike Hargrove would represent them in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft in announcing the team’s first round selections.
• Travis Hafner has been out of the lineup since fouling a ball off his knee on Wednesday. He did not travel with the team to Chicago and is listed as day-to-day.
• Carlos Santana was placed on the new seven-day concussion list after taking a foul ball off the mask in Friday’s game.
• Zach McAllister was optioned to Triple-A Columbus with Josh Tomlin anticipated to be activated from the disabled list to start Monday’s game against the Royals.
• Juan Diaz was promoted from Double-A Akron to provide another bat on the bench for the weekend series.
• Asdrubal Cabrera is day-to-day after tweaking his left hamstring.

WAHOO’S ON FIRST HIGHLIGHTS:

• Merritt dreamed of ownerships that Tribe fans would love to see for the Cleveland Indians
• Katie defended Chris Perez’ comments about low attendance and the negativity from fans surrounding the team
• Merritt previewed the series with the Tigers and Brian previewed the series with the White Sox
• Lewie interviewed Josh Worn from Walkoff Woodward about the Tigers and JJ Stankevitz from CSN Chicago about the White Sox
• Lewie analyzed whether Kevin Youkilis could be a good fit for the Indians
• Geordy took a look at the minor leagues and how some of the top prospects have fared through the first two months of the season
• In this week’s Wroundtable we discussed our thoughts on the comments Chris Perez made

 WEEKLY TRIVIA:

• Vinnie Pestano broke a franchise record with 23 consecutive appearances as a reliever with at least one strikeout, dating back to last season.
• Heading into play on Sunday, Jason Kipnis led all Major League second basemen with 28 RBI and three triples and was tied for first in home runs with eight.
• Chris Perez is tied for first in all of Major League Baseball with 16 saves.
• The Indians still lead the majors in walks with 195 as of Saturday. The closest team was the Tampa Bay Rays with 179.
• The Kansas City Royals are the only team in the majors with fewer strikeouts than the Indians. Tribe hitters have struck out 298 times as of Saturday.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“I could try for the best toothpick beard next. Maybe I could try the most powdered doughnuts eaten in a minute. Or I could try to chug a gallon of milk without throwing up. What else is there?”—Vinnie Pestano on his consecutive strikeout record.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Chris Perez

Perez came under scrutiny for comments he made about the negativity surrounding the ball club from the fans in the past week, but he didn’t let it affect his on-field performance. Perez was able to nail down three consecutive saves in the series against Detroit, keeping his spot as the leader in saves in the Major Leagues with 16, tied with Jim Johnson of the Baltimore Orioles. Perez worked out of a tight situation on Tuesday night, working through the heart of the Tigers’ lineup without allowing a run.