This Week In Indians Baseball: Week 17

NEWS:

• After making his return to Cleveland on Sunday, Roberto Hernandez completed a bullpen session for the Major League coaching staff. In a Class-A outing for Lake County on Thursday, he hurled 66 pitches, allowing one earned run and two unearned, with six hits and four strikeouts.
• Rafael Perez, who is working back from a left lat injury, pitched two innings of scoreless relief for Triple-A Columbus on Monday. After facing another setback after that outing, he has been temporarily shut down. Though an MRI of his arm was clean, the Indians chose to err on the side of caution.
• The Indians traded for Brent Lillibridge on Tuesday, sending Jose De La Torre to the Red Sox in return.
• Aaron Cunningham was designated for assignment on Wednesday. He cleared waivers and was sent to Triple-A Columbus.

WAHOO’S ON FIRST HIGHLIGHTS:

• Lewie looked at the role Roberto Hernandez’ celebrity played in his getting a new visa
• Steve examined whether Esmil Rogers has turned a corner since becoming a Cleveland Indian
• Lewie suggested that the Indians trade Chris Perez for San Francisco’s Brandon Belt
• Merritt previewed the series with the Tigers and Brian previewed the series with the Twins
• Lewie interviewed Cameron Scott of Walkoff Woodward about the Tigers and Hayden Kane of Puckett’s Pond about the Twins
• Ed wondered if Roberto Hernandez can help the Indians in the remainder of the 2012 season
• Brian explained why the Indians should be sellers at the Trade Deadline, while Lewie argued that they shouldn’t
• Lewie wondered if the Indians could trade for Zack Greinke
• Steve argued that the Indians should trade Shin-Soo Choo
• In this week’s Wroundtable, we discussed possible trades the Indians could make

WEEKLY TRIVIA:

• On Thursday, Joe Smith got his seventh win, with leads Major League relievers.
• The Indians became just the third team to beat Justin Verlander twice in the same season since September 2010.
• Ubaldo Jimenez has allowed the most stolen bases among American League pitchers with 22. He also has thrown the most wild pitches at 11 and issued the most walks at 72.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Everybody says the same thing, that they hate to lose, but I really, really hate to lose. I want to win. Win. The last couple years, it’s been the same situation. We play good, are in first place and then go down at the same time.”-Shin-Soo Choo

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Carlos Santana

Run production has been a problem for the Indians lately, but Santana found a way to get it done with a .346 batting average in the last week. He also brought home seven runs on three home runs and four doubles.