Indians Lineup and Other Slow Saturday News

Late games on the West Coast bring on a day full of boredom for baseball fans, unless they’re fans of the World Cup or visiting Bed, Bath, and Beyond with their significant others…that’s a nice little Saturday. For those of you clamoring for some Indians news, your day has been saved:

Your lineup for tonight:

Pre-Game Reading:

Some great information on Michael Brantley‘s injury scare, T.J. House taking Sunday’s start, Nick Swisher‘s swing with Terry Francona‘s thoughts on his struggles, and more from MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian for your reading pleasure.

More from Cleveland Guardians News

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Did You Know:

High-A Carolina’s Ryan Merritt is having an absolutely incredible season. The 22-year-old left-hander started for the Carolina League in the recent Carolina/California League All-Star game, and his overall numbers look like this:

Merritt doesn’t have the crazy strikeout numbers that lead to the national media hyping him (like Danny Salazar last year), but he is keepig runners off the bases and throwing strikes, something that works at every level. If he maintains the ability to miss the barrel of the bat with his stuff once promoted to Double-A, he could earn a look as a spot starter later this season, with a shot to lock down a spot in the rotation by the middle of next season.

In Double-A, Joseph Colon has been pitching well for the Akron Rubberducks. The 6’0″ right-hander from Puerto Rico has a 2.70 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over his last 10 starts, but, like Merritt, the strikeout totals are low, as Colon has a 37:15 K:BB in those 10 starts, covering 60 innings. Colon, 24, missed all of the 2010 season with a UCL strain (it was a short-season league, so just 92 days), but he hasn’t had any other medical issues, and he has managed a career 3.44 ERA over 415.2 innings, and he looks poised for an opportunity to climb further up the organizational ladder.

In Triple-A, outfielder Carlos Moncrief has taken some strides offensively this season, but, particularly, in June, he has taken running leaps. Moncrief, 25, is hitting .313/.370/.566 over 83 June at-bats, with 11 extra-base hits (five of them home runs), and 22 RBI in just 22 games. David Murphy‘s sudden inability to get on base makes a cry for help from Columbus and Moncrief’s hot bat an intriguing scenario for a quick fix.

Something Has to Give:

Speaking of David Murphy, he is now 2-for-44 (.045/.160/.045) since June 11, covering 51 plate appearances. In 2012, Nick Swisher started 107 games for the New York Yankees in right field. Neither Swisher nor Murphy are hitting, but someone needs to be on the bench, and it should be Chisenhall tonight, who could easily have filled first base or designated hitter with Swisher or Murphy in right with the other on the bench.