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The Cleveland Indians made a whole host of roster moves prior to Sunday’s game against the Athletics:
Indians moves:
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 1, 2018
•RHP Adam Plutko optioned to AAA
•LHP Marc Rzepczynski contract selected
•40-man move to add Zep TBA
Barring something unexpected, this means Shane Bieber will remain the 5th starter when Carlos Carrasco returns from the DL.
Francona: Carrasco will come off the DL to start on Friday against the A's. Tito said the pitcher hit 97 mph in his rehab start with Double-A Akron Saturday. Threw 58 pitches in game and finished with some more in bullpen.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 1, 2018
Good news on the Carlos Carrasco front as it appears that he will be ready to pitch this upcoming Friday. With Cookie returning to the rotation, one of Plutko or Bieber were going to have to be sent back to Columbus. At this point, the decision seemed like a no-brainer. Both pitchers have had limited time at the major league level this season, but Bieber has been the better pitcher:
- Shane Bieber: 24.1 IP, 6 ER, 4 BB, 27 K, 202 ERA+
- Adam Plutko: 36.2 IP, 19 ER, 9 BB, 25 K, 96 ERA+
Additional moves included bringing Marc Rzepczynski up from AAA to Cleveland. You all remember Scrabble from 2013-2015 when he was with the Indians. He was great for 2013 and 2014 but fell off a bit of a cliff in 2015 and eventually found his way to San Diego, Oakland, Washington, and Seattle. The journeyman is back with the Indians now after pitching just 7.2 innings for the Mariners earlier this year (they were awful innings).
The corresponding move that Bastian mentioned in the tweet above came shortly after:
The Indians have released LHP Shawn Morimando. That clears a spot on the 40-man roster for Rzepczynski.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 1, 2018
Shawn Morimondo, drafted by the Tribe in the 19th round of the 2011 draft, has been struggling to succeed in the minors at higher levels. He’s shown flashes of promise in AA, but that success hasn’t translated to Columbus and the 4.2 innings he pitched at the major league level in 2016 were disappointing. Maybe he’ll flourish with another team down the road, but his time with the Indians has come to a close.