Cleveland Indians: How close to a return are Tribe’s injured stars?

Roberto Perez, C, Cleveland Indians

One player that might be a little underappreciated on the roster in Cleveland is Roberto Perez. He’s coming off back-to-back Gold Glove awards and his impact behind the plate is hard to match. The more recent injury to Austin Hedges has only amplified the need for Perez to return. Now, Hedges, Rene Rivera and now Ryan Lavarnway have been able to hold down the fort, but they aren’t Perez.

Perez hit the injured list on May 5 and was quickly moved to the 60-day injured list on May 23 to create space on the 40-man roster. What seems a bit crazy is that those 60 days are almost up and a return could be on the horizon for Perez behind the plate.

Perez, along with Plesac, is scheduled to meet with a hand specialist in Pittsburgh during the road trip this weekend. If the news is good there, Perez might be able to start a rehab assignment as early as next week.

While Perez won’t bring a huge offensive boost, there’s the potential for improvement from him over what the position has been producing. Additionally, his defense will be a huge plus, especially for such a young starting rotation. There’s few in the game that can catch a better game than Perez.

If Perez and Plesac can rejoin the club around the same time, that would be a huge upgrade for the pitching staff and team as a whole.