There's a good chance the Indians will be looking for a third baseman next season. Jared Goedert may get a chance to audtion for the job with a September call up from Columbus.
Jared Goedert could well get a chance to show his abilities with the Indians during the second half of the season.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- This is a daily briefing of the Indians' 2010 regular season. The Indians play Tampa Bay tonight in the third game of a four-game series at Tropicana Field.
Tropicana Field's dimensions: Left field line 315 feet, left center field power alley 370, center field 404, right center field power alley 370 and right field foul line 322.
Pre-game notes:
Game 87: Manager Manny Acta says third baseman Jared Goedert is "making a push" at Class AAA Columbus. Where that push may lead will be intriguing to watch.
Goedert is hitting .325 (40-for-123) with 15 homers and 32 RBI in 31 games at Columbus. He's played 26 games at third, a position that could have a help wanted sign hanging on it sometime this season if the Indians are able to trade Jhonny Peralta.
He opened the year at Class AA Akron and hit .325 (53-for-163) with seven homers and 32 RBI.
"Goedert is having a very good year in Triple-A," said Acta. "The last two years he's been pretty much recovering from the (shoulder) surgery that he had. Apparently, he's come back from that and is swinging the bat well.
"He's making a push. What can I say?"
Acta said if Goedert could get a September call up "if he continues to push himself and plays as well as he's playing."
Goedert was a ninth-round pick out of Kansas State in 2006. He hit 20 homers at Class A Lake County and Class A Kinston in 2007.
Lonnie Chisenhall is the Tribe's top third base prospect. He's hitting .267 (71-for-266) with eight homers and 37 RBI at Akron, but is probably a year away from the big leagues.
Peralta can be a free agent at the end of this season. The Indians hold a $7 million option on him for 2011. It's unlikely they'd exercise that. So far, there has been little, if any, interest in Peralta regarding a trade.
Lineups:
Indians (34-52): CF Michael Brantley (L), 2B Jayson Nix (R), C Carlos Santana (S), DH Travis Hafner (L), RF Austin Kearns (R), 3B Jhonny Peralta (R), 1B Matt LaPorta (R), LF Shelley Duncan (L), SS Jason Donald (R) and LHP Aaron Laffey (1-2, 5.18).
Rays (52-34): CF B.J. Upton (R), DH Carl Crawford (L), 3B Evan Longoria (R), 1B Willy Aybar (S), C Kelly Shoppach (R), RF Ben Zobrist (S), 2B Sean Rodriguez (R), SS Jason Bartlett (R) and RHP Matt Garza (9-5, 4.23).
Umpires: H Tim Welke, 1B Scott Barry, 2B Mike DiMuro, 3B Jim Reynolds. Welke, crew chief.
Quote of the day: "If I had my career to play over, one thing I'd do differently is swing more. Those 1,200 (1,210) walks I got, nobody remembers them." -- late Hall of Famer PeeWee Reese.
Next: RHP Justin Masterson (3-8, 5.22) vs. RHP Jeff Niemann (7-2, 2.65) Sunday at 1:40 p.m.