The Cleveland Indians are dealing with a whole list of injuries.
Josh Naylor’s name is now added to the list after he suffered what appeared to be a nasty leg injury Sunday following a collision in the field.
But with the new bad news, there is some good news regarding another player.
That player is Zach Plesac, who finally has a rehab start on the schedule.
Zach Plesac is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday with Double-A Akron.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) June 27, 2021
This is great news at a time when Indians need a little bit of that.
Plesac Finally On His Way Back
Plesac last pitched May 23 in a loss against the Minnesota Twins.
Then came the bizarre injury news of him suffering a thumb injury while taking off his shirt.
It is now the end of June and he is finally getting back on the mound in Double-A.
This is better than nothing, and this rehab assignment represents Plesac being at a point where he just needs to be honest about he feels.
If he feels great, he can keep progressing and getting stretched out again to a normal workload.
That should not be too difficult considering this was not a structural issue with his elbow or shoulder.
#Indians RHP Zach Plesac (thumb) threw 32 pitches in bullpen session today. Complete arsenal, felt good.
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) June 26, 2021
The best-case scenario would be him returning before the All-Star break.
However, returning right after is just fine too so he makes sure he is ready to go for the full second half of the season.
A Southpaw Back In The Mix
The Indians are digging deep into the organizational depth chart with all the pitching injuries.
That means Logan Allen was set for a start over the weekend.
Unfortunately for him, he got bumped because Saturday’s game was postponed.
So the Indians are now going with this pitching alignment for the week.
Updated pitching plan for Cleveland:
Sunday: Sam Hentges
Monday: Eli Morgan
Tuesday: J.C. MejÃa
Wednesday: Cal Quantrill— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) June 26, 2021
This is not surprising at all and at least Allen knows he is back on the team’s radar.
The southpaw began the season in the rotation and even pitched the home opener.
Then came a total implosion where he allowed six home runs in a matter of two short starts.
What Allen has going for him is his age.
He is only 24 years old and showed enough to break into the rotation out of spring training.
The lefty also looked fine at the start of the season for his first three starts.
The home run issue popped up near the end of April and the Indians made the decision to let him work on that in Triple-A instead of sacrificing him on the mound so early in the year.
It is the same strategy the team is using with Triston McKenzie, after his walk problem emerged.
The demotions don’t mean either is out of the future plans, but rather that they need to develop more with less pressure.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
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