Cleveland Indians Roundup: Indians Call Up T.J. House, Demote Shawn Morimando, Beat Yankees

The Cleveland Indians cycled through even more relief pitchers yesterday

The bullpen shuffled yet again yesterday when the Cleveland Indians set down Shawn Morimando and called up T.J. House. Morimando had just joined the bullpen the other day, and he made just one appearance. Granted, he pitched terribly in that appearance, allowing four runs on three hits, four walks, and a home run in just one inning. The 23-year-old left-hander had experienced greater success in the minor leagues, although he had pitched almost exclusively as a starting pitcher there. 

More from Away Back Gone

• 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

For T.J. House, this grants him yet another chance to re-establish himself in the major leagues. He pitching brilliantly down the stretch for the Cleveland Indians back in 2014, but he struggling greatly last season before landing on the disabled list for much of the season. In 66 minor league innings this year, he has yet to rediscover his past form and has been quite terrible overall. This said, he has pitched better from the bullpen, but that comes with all the dangers of placing too much stock in a tiny sample size.

The reason for the transaction has been the recent collapse of the Cleveland Indians’ starting pitching. In the games proceeding last night’s game, the starting pitchers had allowed runs at an alarming and uncharacteristically high rate and failed to go deep into games. This placed an undue burden on the bullpen, hence the revolving door of relievers.

Speaking of last night, the Cleveland Indians defeated the New York Yankees by a final score of 5-2. Corey Kluber gave the bullpen some much-needed rest by pitching eight dominant innings. The outing lowered his seasonal earned run average to 3.22, although advanced metrics feel that his work has been much better than that.

The offense also played a big part in the victory by slugging three solo home runs. Jason Kipnis, Mike Napoli, and Rajai Davis all partook in the power show, which was fitting since those three players have either set or are about to set career bests for the most home runs in a season. Interestingly enough, those three home runs were the only extra base hits of the affair.

Finally, Francisco Lindor had an impressive moment when he managed to hit two foul balls on one pitch. The shortstop swung at a Chasen Shreve fastball, fouled it off catcher Garry Sanchez’ mask, and fouled it again on his back swing. While the occurrence was almost certainly unintentional, it was a curious moment that required a replay from the broadcasting crew.

More from around the American League Central:

Cleveland Indians Roundup: Trevor Bauer Apologizes; Minor Transaction Notes; Series Preview – Wahoo’s on First

T.J. House up, Shawn Morimando down as Terry Francona Protects Cleveland Indians’ Bullpen – Cleveland.com

Corey Kluber, Homers Carry Tribe Past Yankees – Indians.com