The Indians have a new keystone combination. Asdrubal Cabrera is back at shortstop, and Jason Donald is getting a chance to play at second base.
View full sizeIndians shortstop Asdubal Cabrera was back in the lineup Tuesday after 60 days on the disabled list. Unfortunately he struggled at the plate, going without a hit in his first four at-bats.MINNEAPOLIS — The Indians, just like that, have two new middle infielders.
Asdrubal Cabrera joined the Indians before Tuesday night's game against the Twins. He wasn't supposed to be activated until Friday, but with outfielders Austin Kearns (right knee) and Michael Brantley (right shoulder) out of the lineup with injuries, manager Manny Acta felt the move had to be made.
Cabrera's arrival forced Acta to answer the impending question at second base sooner than expected. With Cabrera back to reclaim his job at shortstop, who was going to start at second base? Would it be Jason Donald or Jayson Nix?
Donald has been the Indians' main shortstop since Cabrera broke his left forearm May 17. Nix, claimed on waivers from the White Sox on June 24, replaced Luis Valbuena at second base. He established himself quickly, hitting six homers in 83 at-bats.
Acta gave the job to Donald. Nix, who started in left field Tuesday, will be the utility man. He started one game in the outfield with the White Sox earlier this season.
"We've seen a lot of progress from Donald," Acta said. "He's settled down. He's made a lot of progress in his overall game. His bat is farther advanced than we saw in spring training."
Donald is one of four players the Indians received in the Cliff Lee deal last year from Philadelphia. He went into Tuesday's game hitting .276 (45-for-163) with 14 doubles, two triples, two homers and 17 RBI.
View full sizeJason Donald, above, will be the Indians regular second baseman now that Cabrera is back in the lineup.The Indians want to find out if he can play second base on a regular basis and whether he can be a core player in their latest rebuilding project. Donald, a lifer at shortstop, started playing second at Class AAA Columbus earlier this year. Cabrera's injury changed that.
"I hope I can make the adjustment quickly," Donald said. "If they hit the ball to me, try to field it and throw the guy out at first. Just make things as simple as possible."
The hardest thing for any second baseman is to make the turn on the double play.
"I'm just going to get the ball and throw it as hard as I can," Donald said when asked how he handles the pivot. "If I get hit, I get hit. You can't be afraid of that contact."
Cabrera hit .350 (7-for-20) with four runs, three doubles, one homer and three RBI on a rehab assignment at Class A Mahoning Valley and Class AA Akron. He had two hits, including a homer, for Akron on Monday night.
"I feel pretty good right now," Cabrera said. "I hit the ball really good down there during my rehab assignment."
Yo-yo: Jensen Lewis was designated for assignment to make room for Cabrera even though he still has one minor-league option available. It was a procedural move, and it's highly unlikely a team will claim Lewis.
The Indians placed him on procedural waivers instead of outright waivers. He's expected to be optioned to Columbus today.
It's the third time Lewis has been sent down this season. His demotion once again gives the Indians a seven-man bullpen.
Philadelphia made the same procedural move with Scott Mathieson earlier in the season. So did the Nationals with Matt Chico.
Bad timing: The blister on the index finger of Kerry Wood's pitching hand picked a bad time to pop. He's on the disabled list and is eligible to be activated July 28.
It rules him out for a trade before the non-waiver deadline of July 31. The Indians, however, might still be able to trade him before Aug. 31. They'll need waivers on him, but he should clear without a hitch.
If a team claims Wood, and couldn't work a deal with the Indians, they'd be stuck with what remains of his $10.5 million contract, which would be an estimated $3.7 million.
Finally: After Monday's 10-4 victory over the Twins, Aaron Laffey said he's been pitching with a tired left arm since making the conversion from reliever to starter. Laffey was barely hitting 87 mph during his five innings.
Acta said Lonnie Soloff, Indians head athletic trainer, was going to put Laffey through a series of tests to make sure his arm is sound. . . . Kearns left Monday's game with a sore right knee he injured in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Detroit. Brantley was injured Monday making a diving catch in center field in the second inning.