Today: Fortunately, Salazar’s groin strain is “mild,” tweets Zack Meisel of the Athletic. Nevertheless, there is no current timetable for his return, Meisel adds.
Friday: The Indians have placed righty Danny Salazar and southpaw Tyler Olson on the 10-day injured list, per a club announcement. The former is dealing with a right groin strain and the latter a “non-baseball medical condition.”
To take the open roster spots, recently acquired righties Phil Maton and Hunter Wood were recalled from Triple-A. Those two hurlers were picked up in separate deals during the month of July.
It’s massively disappointing to see Salazar head right back to the IL after just one outing. The 29-year-old had last pitched in 2017, with major arm issues keeping him off the mound in the interim.
Unfortunately, Salazar’s return was less than promising even before the groin problem was revealed. He barely topped 88 mph with his fastball, a stunning loss of velocity for a pitcher who always sat in the mid-nineties.
It’s not yet known how long Salazar might be sidelined, or what his path back might look like. Similarly, there’s no indication whatsoever what kind of absence the club is anticipating from Olson. The southpaw carries a 4.40 ERA in 30 2/3 innings, but has continued to be tough on lefties, who’ve managed only a .245/.333/.367 line against him this season.
Salazar is like the guy who works in a warehouse that slipped on a wet floor once and now has been collecting Workers Comp for the last 20 years. He randomly shows up once every few years to “reinjure” himself, so he can keep the checks coming.
Cleveland’s Front Office is amazing 99% of the time, but why they still pay this clown is beyond me.
It’s not like it’s his fault he’s injury prone. I’m sure he would love to be healthy enough to play. Plus, wasn’t he pitching through a groin injury in his first game back?
Except he’s not injured. He hasn’t been for 2 years. Worst kept secret in Cleveland is that every time his rehab ramps up, he claims that he’s “sore” and shuts everything down.
He forced the Indians to do an exploratory surgery to his shoulder which found….absolutely nothing. This is not a Hot Take — this guy is just insanely lazy.
Another “worst kept secret” is that he initially claimed he was hurt right after he was involved in a fight at the Larry Flynt Club in Cleveland. This dude is a joke.
Please cite sources
He can’t, he’s a whiny pathetic little bit$$.
And the Indians would allow this because…?
It certainly isn’t because the Indians are so generous with their money, just throwing it around willy nilly. That is NOT happening. They are notoriously cheap.
Difference between cheap and frugal. With their market and budget they need to be responsible.
They have no sources
They pay him because major league contracts are guaranteed.
Teams have entire medical staffs. This isn’t slip and fall school.
It’s not about paying when required, it’s re-upping him they could’ve cut bait and instead paid for 2 years of nothing.
“It’s not about paying when required, it’s re-upping him they could’ve cut bait and instead paid for 2 years of nothing.”
They didn’t “re-up”. He’s still on his original contract and isn’t even arbitration eligible until 2020.
They re-signed him for $5million last year and then re-signed him yet again in 2019 for $4.5million. With his injuries and their payroll limitations they could have let him walk.
Salazar avoided arbitration on 1 year deals in 18 and 19 after he was injured in 17. So yes the Indians did bring him back and paid him when they could have non-tendered him. And he is a free agent after 2020 not just hitting arbitration. You might want to do your research before posting.
Thank you!
“why they still pay this clown is beyond me.”
Contracts are guaranteed in MLB. This isn’t the NFL. They’re paying him regardless so might as well keep him around.
I saw no reason for CLE to tender him a contract over the winter in anticipation of exactly what’s unfolding right now. They’d be insane to bring him back next year. I do have to give the FO a ton of credit for letting Chisenhall walk, though.
I thought two years ago they definitely should bring him back, then this past year maybe they should, but now they need to just let him walk. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Not looking for a 3rd…
Good thing they shored up the rotation before the trade deadline :/
Of course, going from Bauer to Allen(the lefty starter they got from SD) is a downgrade. However, adding Puig and Reyes is a pretty big upgrade for the offense, which really needed the reinforcements. So, I’d say that Cleveland did very well in moving Bauer.
Should have traded prospects to get Reyes and Puig. Not Bauer. Indians rotation is not as deep as people seem to think.
Just like your time here in the Indians threads, Bauers time in Cleveland was over and he needed to go too. If his long toss wasn’t enough he showed up at the park the next night to hang out in the bar and watch the game amongst the fans and really pissed off his former teammates.
Since when was maton an indian
Since sometime in July…..
They traded bonus pool money (I think) for him probably 2-3 weeks ago.
Olson has a “non-baseball medical condition?”
What’s he got, hemorrhoids from all the crappy pitching he’s done this season?
He has had shingles for the last two months. That can be very painful.
Then he shouldn’t have been pitching that whole time.
As someone who has watched him pitch recently, I absolutely agree that he should not have been pitching.
LOL. Salazar goes 4 innings and never says anything about his groin. Willis and Mills don’t see anything wrong. But it’s a nice story.
because a mid 90s fastball turns into mid 80s
I don’t understand WTF Francona or Willis allowed him to even pitch, knowing he topped out at 85. Makes no sense to me unless the decision came from up top…
At some point he as deemed healthy and after waiting for his return you had to see what he had. I’m sure as the game went on and this former flamethrower was soft-tossing and going with junk he confirmed their thoughts and the brain trust was pissed. He was diagnosed with a minor strain which could probably be done for any pro; doesn’t matter, it gets him on the IL and they can replace him with somebody that wants to pitch. He didn’t stay local to let that minor strain heal, he wasn’t sent to his usual hideout in Goodyear, he was sent home. Even during today’s game the announcers pretty much said he’s done and would be surprised to see him throwing in a Tribe uniform again. They even said his surgery last year wasn’t exactly needed but he complained of various things so they got in their and cleaned it out, which again could probably be done for any pro pitcher. Thanks for your service Danny, now goodbye and good lucky. :/
Who has better worker’s comp than MLB?
It was a bizarre outing. He only threw maybe 10 fastballs the whole game. Most were sitting 84-85. He was pitching so slow though that Houston was out in front of everything. Even if he comes off the IL after the minimum, he’s not even a bullpen option as expected at this rate.
He threw 12 and they were 86-88. Problem is the two dingers came off 80 and 84.5mph changeups grooved right down the middle of the plate. With that minimal drop in mph and location they were merely bp pitches.
Yeah, hard to have a changeup without a decent fastball.
It was tough to watch him pitch. Hopefully his lack of velocity was truly due to a minor groin injury and he can start back up soon.
Even if this is the end of his run with the Tribe.. not bad. 9.6 career WAR and the Indians have paid him a total of $14mm over his career so far. I didn’t mind the signing even though it clearly has not worked out so great. $14mm for 9.6 career WAR is still a great bargain for the Indians.
True, but $9.5million of that was for his extended rehab/vacation they got nothing from.