Cleveland Indians Recall Shawn Armstong; Option Ryan Merritt

Cleveland Indians Recall Shawn Armstong; Option Ryan Merritt

The Cleveland Indians recalled right-handed reliever Shawn Armstrong from Triple-A Columbus prior to tonight’s game against the Texas Rangers. To make room for Armstrong, lefty Ryan Merritt was optioned to Triple-A.

The move gives the Indians a fresh bullpen arm after starter Josh Tomlin failed to go five innings yesterday. Merritt, making his big league, pitched brilliantly in relief, working 4 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. He allowed just one hit and faced the minimum and threw just 40 pitches. However, Merritt not being used to working out of the bullpen was sent down. He’ll likely move back into the Clippers’ rotation, joining Cody Anderson and T.J. House. He definitely made an impression with his outstanding debut and we certainly haven’t seen the last of him in Cleveland. 

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Shawn Armstrong has spent the entire season with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers as a member of their bullpen. In 16 appearances, he had a 2.50 ERA and 3.09 FIP. Most impressive were his 30 strikeouts in just 18 innings, good for a 15.0 K/9 ratio, which was fourth-best among all Triple-A pitchers (minimum 10 innings). Unfortunately, Armstrong also walked a ton of hitters, 17 in those 18 innings of work (8.50 BB/9). That walk rate was, in fact, the fourth worst rate in all of Triple-A.

Armstrong has seen time in the big leagues, appearing in eight games last season for the Indians. He looked great in his short stint with the club, striking out 11 in eight innings and walking just two.  The Indians will hope that they get that version of Armstrong and now the walk-happy version they’ve been seeing in Columbus this season.

Carrasco to Return Thursday

The Indians got some great news on the injury front today as well as they announced that Carlos Carrasco will return to the club and get the start this Thursday (June 2nd) against the Kansas City Royals. Carrasco has been out of commission since going on the disabled list after injuring his hamstring on April 24th in Detroit while covering first base. 

The Indians have not announced who will lose their roster spot when Carrasco is activated before Thursday’s game; however, they have said that rookie Mike Clevinger will be available out of the bullpen starting Wednesday. It’s no surprise that Clevinger will lose his rotation spot with Carrasco returning. Not only has he struggled but the rookie never figured to bump Trevor Bauer back to the bullpen the way Cody Anderson was able to in Spring Training. It will, however, be a mild surprise if Clevinger remains in the bullpen and doesn’t go back to Triple-A Thursday to make room for Carrasco.

The Indians could decide to keep Clevinger around in a long relief role in case Carrasco isn’t able to go deep enough in his first outing back due to pitch limitations. If that’s the case, one of Austin Adams or the newly called up Armstrong would be the next logical choices. With Clevinger moving to the bullpen tomorrow, the Indians will have a nine-man bullpen for at least a day. With a three-man bench, some reliever will have to go to make room for Carrasco, the only question is which one…

Next: Three Indians Ready for a Big June

With Carrasco set to return, the Indians will have their rotation back to full-strength. Carrasco will join Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Tomlin, and Bauer giving the Tribe one of the best rotations in the American League again (if not all of baseball). Carrasco’s return leaves just Michael Brantley, Roberto Perez, and Joba Chamberlain on the big league disabled list.