Cleveland Indians Designate Joba Chamberlain, Tom Gorzelanny for Assignment

Cleveland Indians Designate Chamberlain, Gorzelanny for Assignment

After some heavy bullpen usage over the past three games, the Cleveland Indians have made some moves designating veterans RHP Joba Chamberlain and LHP Tom Gorzelanny for assignment. Taking their places are LHP T.J. House and RHP Mike Clevinger.

After the bullpen was forced to work over 20 innings the past three days, the Indians felt it necessary to make some tough choices in the pen and both Chamberlain and Gorzelanny were the casualties. Gorzelanny wasn’t a big surprise as he was the most recent addition and pitched poorly allowing seven runs in just 1/3 of an inning Sunday afternoon. He only appeared in seven games and amassed just three innings but he allowed four hits and five walks in that span. Opponents hit .308 off of him and he had a 3.00 WHIP.

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Chamberlain meanwhile was a bit of a surprise as he was having a decent season overall. He appeared in 20 games throwing 20 innings for the Tribe this season posting a 2.25 ERA, his lowest since 2007 with the New York Yankees. However, he has really struggled since the injury that knocked him out for a couple weeks. In his last seven appearances (six since returning from DL and the game he got hurt in), he posted a 5.68 ERA in 6 1/3 innings and allowed 80% of inherited runners to score. Opponents were batting .280 off him with a .961 OPS as well. A complete 180 from his first 13 games of the season when he posted a 0.66 ERA and opponents hit just .116 off him with a .397 OPS.

Both players are now off the 40-man roster (which stands at 38) and will either be exposed to waivers or traded. If they go to waivers and clear, there’s a chance they could remain with the organization but both have the right to head to free agency.

House and Clevinger Next Up in the Pen

Left-hander T.J. House will take the place of Gorzelanny in the bullpen as the sole lefty at manager Terry Francona‘s disposal. House began the year as a starter where he’s spent his entire career but moved to the bullpen after getting off to a rough start. He’s spent the entire season to date at Triple-A and has thrown 60 2/3 innings for the Columbus Clippers. Overall he has a 4.45 ERA and 4.54 FIP.

Right-hander Mike Clevinger is making his second trip to Cleveland after making three starters earlier in the year when Carlos Carrasco was on the disabled list. He struggled some in his first stint going 0-1 with an 8.79 ERA in 14 1/3 innings. This time he will not be used in the rotation but rather the bullpen. Despite struggling in his big league debut the right-hander was having a great season at Triple-A going 8-0 in 13 starts with a 2.70 ERA. His time in the bullpen will likely only be short term though he does have a live arm that could really help out the Indians this season.

Tigers’ Zimmerman to the DL

Originally announced as Tuesday’s starter, the Tigers have now announced that Jordan Zimmerman will go on the disabled list with a neck strain. Zimmerman is in the first season of a 5 year, $110 million contract he signed this off season with the Tigers. He’s 9-4 with a 3.95 ERA in his first season in the American League after spending his first seasons with the Washington Nationals.

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In his place the Tigers will start veteran right-hander Anibal Sanchez. Typically rialable, Sanchez has struggled this year with the Tigers posting a 6.05 ERA and had been pitching out of the Detroit bullpen. He’s made 12 starts this season and eight relief appearances while posting a 5-8 record.