Grady Sizemore, who played his last game in May, will continue recovering from season-ending surgery on his left knee at the Indians' spring training facility in Goodyear, Ariz.
The Indians expect that Grady Sizemore will be ready to make his sliding catches in center field -- and provide some pop at the plate -- when spring training gets underway next spring.INDIANS CHATTER
Clubhouse confidential: Manager Manny Acta said he’ll talk with the front office this week about adding right-hander Carlos Carrasco to the Indians’ rotation. Carrasco improved to 10-5 with a 3.71 ERA with a victory Tuesday night for Class AAA Columbus.
Carrasco had missed time with a sore elbow, but has pitched well his last two times out.
Acta said Carrasco will be promoted when the rosters expand in September, but he gave the impression that he’d like to see him sometime in August. Carrasco has 119 strikeouts and allowed 44 walks and 127 hits in 135 2/3 innings. The opposition is hitting .252 against him and his WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) is 1.26.
On the radar: Acta wouldn’t name names, but said there are a couple of minor-league relievers he’d like to get a look at in September. Bryce Stowell and Vinnie Pestano could be in line for that shot. Pestano is 1-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 11 saves in 13 chances at Columbus. Stowell has climbed the ladder from Class A Kinston to Class AA Akron to Columbus this year.
Jensen Lewis will almost assuredly get a call as well.
Stat of the day: The Indians and Royals were a combined 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night. The Indians lost, 2-1.
— Paul Hoynes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Center fielder Grady Sizemore is off his crutches and last week passed his eight-week checkup in Vail, Colo. last week.
Dr. Richard Steadman performed microfracture surgery on Sizemore's left knee on June 4 in Vail. It was a season-ending operation and the third time Sizemore has had surgery since September, 2009. In the last two years, Sizemore has played 139 of a possible 324 games.
"Grady is going to continue his rehab in Arizona," said Indians head trainer Lonnie Soloff. "The checkup in Vail lasted one day and he went through some physical therapy the next two."
Sizemore will do his rehab work at the Indians' spring training facility in Goodyear, Ariz. He has a home in Scottsdale.
"He'll be doing as lot of water-based therapy," said Soloff.
Sizemore injured the knee in early April. He re-injured it May 19 against Baltimore diving back into first base. It was the last game he played. The Indians expect Sizemore to be ready for the 2011 season.
He played just 106 games in 2009. He underwent surgery on his left elbow and left groin in September. Sizemore is signed through 2011 with a club option for 2012.
Catcher Carlos Santana, the other Indian who underwent season-ending knee surgery, is still in Cleveland beginning his rehab.
Day off: Travis Hafner came off the disabled list Sunday after getting treatment on his sore right shoulder and hit a grand slam in a 9-1 victory over Seattle. Following an off day, he reached base four times in Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Kansas City.
Wednesday, he rested as Jayson Nix was the DH.
"Coming off the DL, we want to play him four or five days a week," said manager Manny Acta. "We're facing a lefty [Bruce Chen] so we felt this was a good time to rest him. We'll face four right-handers in the next four games and he's scheduled to start each game."
Acta said Hafner will follow that pattern through the rest of the season, but does not expect it to carry over into 2011.
"At the start of this season, he had no restrictions," said Acta. "We feel that is best to get him through the next month and a half."
Slump city: First baseman Matt LaPorta entered Wednesday's game in a 0-for-21 slump. He snapped it with a single in the second inning.
"He's getting beat inside with some fastballs and he's seeing a lot of breaking balls," said Acta. "This is an interesting time for him. He hasn't experienced failure in his career. This is a level where we try to find things out about guys. He's going to have to work through it up here."
While LaPorta has struggled offensively, he's shined at first base. Coming into the season, he was seen as a defensive liability at first.
"That's good," said Acta. "It keeps you involved and contributing to the ballclub. He worked a couple of walks on Tuesday. That's usually a good sign."
Shelley Duncan entered Wednesday's game in a 0-for-19 slump. He ended it with a leadoff homer in the second.
"We talked to Shelley," said Acta. "We want him to stay aggressive at the plate. Last week he struck out a couple of times looking and that's not his nature. What we like about him is his aggressiveness at the plate."
The homer was Duncan's seventh.
Finally: Rookie right-hander Jeanmar Gomez has made only five big-league starts, but in many of them he's been a one-pitch pitcher. The one pitch has been his sinking fastball. In Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Royals, Gomez didn't just rely on the sinker. "He had a good change-up," said Acta. ... The Indians went into Wednesday's game with a 6-9 record in August. ... Royals left-hander Chen was making his first start against the Indians since April 18, 2006.