Clevelinks: Cleveland Indians Place Hagadone on Disabled List; Slider Photo Shoot

Cleveland Indians place reliever on disabled list; Slider does a photo shoot; and Corey Kluber is snubbed from the All-Star Game

The Cleveland Indians placed relief pitcher Nick Hagadone on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a lower back strain. Posting a 4.28 ERA and 3.77 FIP, the 29-year-old has not pitched particularly well this season after a stellar showing at the end of last season set high expectations for the future. The southpaw has struck out a solid 9.22 batters per nine innings, but he has struggled with walks. Stranding runners on base has been of particular struggles, much like the other seasons in which he has struggled.

To add to the struggles, Hagadone has seen his velocity drop from past seasons. Just last season, his fastball, which he throws nearly 80% of the time, clocked in at 94.6 miles-per-hour. This season, however, the same pitch has averaged a slower 93.6 miles-per-hour. While this lessened velocity may not seem like a huge deal, PITCHf/x now rates his fastball at one run below average this season per 100 pitchers. Last season, the pitch was roughly league average.

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In other news, ESPN released its annual “Body” issue, and the Cleveland Indians’ mascot, Slider, took offense at being left out. Slider posed in his own photo shoot with various pieces of baseball equipment and no uniform. For those who are interested in seeing the photos, his portfolio has been uploaded here.

Finally, the All-Star Game rosters have been announced, and Corey Kluber got snubbed from the midsummer classic for the second year in a row. Even though he has a fairly high ERA for an All-Star, I make the case that his peripherals and ERA estimators more than make up for that one statistic.

More from around the AL Central:

Cleveland Indians’ Corey Kluber Snubbed from All-Star Game – Wahoo’s on First

Detroit Tigers 2015 Mid-Season Report Card – Motor City Bengals

Naming Sale ASG Starter the Winning Move for AL – Southside Showdown

Kansas City Royals: Dumb Luck Saved Zack Greinke Trade – Kings of Kauffman

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