Cleveland's rotation quandary solved ... for now with new IL stint
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Well, all the big decisions the Guardians needed to make in regards to their rotation seem to be sorted out … at least for the time being.
Aaron Civale is set to come off the injured list to start on Friday in Minnesota. Triston McKenzie will be right behind him, getting the start at Target Field on Sunday. The biggest headache was how the team would trim the seven starters it was about to have down to five. But now, the Guardians learned that Cal Quantrill will be heading to the injured list on Friday, to make room for Civale.
According to Guardians manager Terry Francona, Quantrill’s right shoulder hasn’t felt right for a little while. After he gave up eight runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday in Baltimore, Quantrill talked to his coaching staff about the trouble he was having.
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“He’s not been bouncing back very good,” Francona said. “He’s able to kind of reach back and get his velocity, but as you can see, he’s not commanding. He was worried.”
The Guardians decided to send Quantrill back to Cleveland instead of traveling with the club to Minneapolis. An MRI revealed inflammation in his throwing shoulder that prompted the medical staff to give him an injection. According to Francona, Quantrill should only be down for a handful of days -- not weeks -- before he gets back into his usual activities.
“The hard part was I think it kind of bothered him last year and he did pretty good,” Francona said. “He said he thought he could maybe kind of power through it, but he said, ‘Hey, my value is staying out there and giving you some innings and keeping you in games.’ He said, ‘I’m not doing that.’”
This isn’t the way the Guardians would’ve wanted to sort out their rotation situation, but this takes a lot of difficult decisions off their hands for now. When Civale is activated from the IL on Friday, Quantrill will take his spot on the 15-day IL. But when McKenzie returns on Sunday, a few moves still need to be made.
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Because McKenzie has been on the 60-day IL, the Guardians will need a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters. The team could decide to designate a player in its Minor League system for assignment instead of someone at the big league level. Guys like starter Zach Plesac or infielder José Tena, both of whom are buried under a long line of players ahead of them at their positions, could fall in this category.
As far as the 26-man move, the Guardians will need to send down a pitcher, considering there’s a cap of 13 pitchers per roster. When McKenzie comes back, that would bring Cleveland’s total to 14.
Hunter Gaddis seems like a likely candidate simply because he’s filling a long-relief role in the bullpen now that Civale has taken his spot in the rotation. And since Xzavion Curry has already owned that spot all year -- and done exceptionally well -- there may not be a need for two people to bring similar skill sets to the table.