Veteran pitcher says right hand 'feels pretty good' after treatment for lingering blister.
Kerry Wood is just a successful rehabitation effort Thursday night in Akron from rejoining the Indians' bullpen this weekend in Toronto.INDIANS INSIDER
Clubhouse confidential: Right-hander Anthony Reyes had a productive rehab outing at Class AA Akron on Tuesday.
Reyes underwent reconstructive elbow surgery in June 2009.
“He’s feeling really good and upbeat,” Indians manager Manny Acta said.
Acta said the next step for Reyes is at least another appearance in Akron. It is uncertain whether Reyes would need to continue the rehab in Class AAA Columbus.
The Indians would like to see Reyes activated this season, as a starter or reliever. He would come to camp in 2011 as a starter.
As a St. Louis Cardinal in 2006, Reyes started Game 1 of the World Series against the Tigers. He allowed two runs in eight innings and earned the victory.
Mr. Smith: Reliever Joe Smith entered Wednesday having allowed zero runs in a team-high 14 consecutive appearances since June 28. He had given up two hits in his last nine innings.
“I’ve simplified my delivery, which has given me less to worry about,” Smith said.
Smith, a sidewinder, is more hunched over.
“It’s how I was when I had success a couple of years ago,” he said.
Stat of the day: The Indians entered Wednesday leading the American League with 10 victories by rookie pitchers — Mitch Talbot (eight), Jeanmar Gomez and Josh Tomlin.
— Dennis Manoloff
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Closer Kerry Wood, who has been sidelined since mid-July because of a blister on his right index finger, could be activated this weekend when the Indians travel to Toronto.
All that stands in Wood's way is a scheduled one-inning rehab appearance for Class AA Akron on Thursday night.
"We'll see how the finger reacts," manager Manny Acta said. "He will be activated in Toronto if everything's OK."
Wood was placed on the disabled list July 17, retroactive to July 12.
"It feels pretty good right now, but it's tough with a blister on the hand," Wood said in the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon. "If it were a blister on the toe, I'd be all right."
Wood also had an index-finger blister in 2008, his last season with the Cubs, that forced him on the DL.
"It's bounced back a lot quicker than it did in '08," Wood said. "The guys here did a great job."
Wood is 1-4 with eight saves and a 6.30 ERA in 23 appearances. This is his second DL stint of the season; a strained lat muscle cost him the first month-plus.
Acta said that, when Wood is activated, he will not close immediately. The same approach was taken when Wood came off the DL in May.
"We want to ease him back into it," Acta said.
Chris Perez is the substitute closer and closer of the future. He entered Wednesday night with 10 saves.
"Chris has done a good job [pitching the eighth or ninth inning]," Acta said. "He's a bright kid. He understands you can blow the game in the eighth, too."
Gim dandy: The night before making his major-league debut, Tribe right-hander Josh Tomlin received a call from catcher Chris Gimenez.
"He told me: 'Relax, enjoy yourself and throw like you did in Columbus,'" Tomlin said. "He said it was the same game -- good pitches will get good hitters out."
Tomlin threw plenty of quality pitches Tuesday, resulting in a 4-1 victory in which he allowed one run on three hits in seven innings. He made sure to thank the co-pilot.
"Chris was a big part of my success," Tomlin said. "He called a great game, blocked balls and threw out Derek Jeter trying to steal. He did it all."
Gimenez, subbing for Carlos Santana, also went 1-for-2 with a bases-loaded walk against CC Sabathia.
Tomlin said he could not recall legitimately shaking off Gimenez. Several times, Tomlin shook him off simply to keep the Yankees hitters guessing.
"I thought Gimenez did a tremendous job calling the game," Acta said. "That was overlooked."
Tomlin used primarily four-seam fastballs (90-92 mph), cutters and change-ups to throttle baseball's highest-scoring club. He mixed in a few curveballs.
The Yankees, particularly Alex Rodriguez, struggled with the cutter's late action. Rodriguez went 0-for-3 against Tomlin, and 0-for-1 against reliever Chris Perez, to remain struck on 599 homers.
Rodriguez said Tomlin "pitched backward a little bit," which is a compliment to Gimenez. Gimenez called for off-speed pitches in fastball counts and visa versa.
"Josh shocked me when he threw 2-1 change-ups to some of those guys," Acta said. "He wasn't afraid to fall behind 3-1. The confidence he has in his pitches is tremendous."
Tomlin threw 60 of his 93 pitches for strikes, not many of which stayed in the middle of the plate. One that did was a fastball to Rodriguez in the seventh. The pitch was low enough, though, that Rodriguez failed to get good wood on it and flied to right.
Overhaul: Yankees right fielder and Ohio State product Nick Swisher was in the midst of a solid major-league career when, like a roundhouse to the jaw, the 2009 postseason hit -- and he didn't. He went 1-for-12 in the division series, 3-for-20 in the ALCS and 2-for-15 in the World Series.
The Yankees won the World Series, which mattered most for a team player such as Swisher. But it could not erase all the sting of a combined 6-for-47.
"It was almost like, the harder I tried, the worse I did," he said. "It was my first time on a stage like that, playing in the postseason for the Yankees, and it got to me."
Swisher decided to do something about it. After a brief vacation, he called Yankees batting coach Kevin Long.
"I said, 'Hey, bro, we're going to get to work,'" Swisher said. "Dec. 5, 10 a.m., we got to work."
Swisher and Long did not merely tweak his swing; they overhauled his offensive approach. Swisher could have continued to get by as a gamer who hit .245 with power, and made millions doing it, but he knew he was capable of more. Even at 29 and 761 games into his major-league career, it was not too late to reinvent himself.
"We essentially started from the ground up," Swisher said. "It wasn't adjustments I needed to make; it was changes. Change is a tough word to use when you're talking about a baseball player because you're like, 'Wait a minute, man. I'm in the big leagues and you want me to change something?'
"But it was my choice. I knew I needed to make changes to get to the level of play I should expect of myself."
Swisher came to spring training with a new stance and swing, as well as a better body and different mental game. The payoff has been a tremendous season to date.
He entered Wednesday's game against the Indians hitting .301 with 18 homers, 24 doubles, 59 RBI and 63 runs in 93 games. He is on pace for easily the best of his six full seasons.
"I'm still having fun, but it's more like a job this year," he said. "It's kind of like that x-factor. I view things differently now. Some people catch on at an early age. It took me until I was 29 before I started really figuring out this stuff. I'm enjoying the journey. Every second of it."
Swisher is the son of former major leaguer Steve Swisher.
Persona non-grata: A fan wearing a Miami Heat jersey of LeBron James drew the ire of bleacher crowd Wednesday night and was escorted out of the ballpark.
Fans in the left-field bleachers chanted obscenities and pointed at the man during the sixth inning. Hundreds of fans joined in before security led the man out of the stadium.
As he left, some fans followed him toward the gate with more derisive chants.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.