Anderson has surgery; Kluber gets good news

DETROIT -- The Indians have had very little luck when it’s come to the health of their starting pitchers this season, and on Friday, they got more bad news, as right-hander Cody Anderson, who had two brief stints with the big league club this season, underwent a surgery to repair a flexor tendon in his right elbow.

“Not the ligament, but a tendon,” Indians manager Terry Francona clarified. “But that’s obviously not great news.”

Anderson had already battled through ligament damage in his throwing elbow in 2017. He then received reconstructive surgery in Arlington on March 27, 2017, to repair the UCL in the elbow. He spent the entire season rehabbing at the team’s facility in Goodyear, Ariz., and it looks like he’ll have to spend even more time there now.

“Oh yeah,” Francona said when asked if the righty would be down for a while. “That’s a lot. We’re obviously thinking about him.”

Anderson made his first big league appearance since Sept. 28, 2016, on April 13 in Kansas City. In five games (two starts), he pitched to a 9.35 ERA in 8 2/3 frames, with eight walks and nine strikeouts. He made six starts at Triple-A, posting a 4.56 ERA in 23 2/3 innings.

"He wasn’t bouncing back,” Francona said. “That's our sixth starter [injured]. … Feel bad for Cody, though. He worked his [butt] off.”

Of the six injured starters -- Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, Jefry Rodriguez and Danny Salazar -- one is days away from returning and another continues to receive positive news. Clevinger is set to rejoin the rotation on Monday in Arlington, and Kluber got a good report from the doctors following an evaluation on his fractured right arm on Thursday. He got the green light to begin doing strengthening exercises, which he began right away.

“So for the next couple weeks, that’ll be what’s in front of him,” Francona said. “He’ll be re-evaluated in a couple more weeks. But no, he got a good report.”

Other injury updates

Dan Otero: The righty threw out to 100 feet prior to Friday’s series opener against the Tigers. He was placed on the IL on June 2 (retroactive to May 31) with right shoulder inflammation.

Danny Salazar: Salazar was scheduled for a simulated game on Friday in Arizona. He had previously just been throwing live batting practice. Although the right-hander is making progress, Francona said that the club hasn't started thinking about putting together a schedule for a rehab assignment just yet.

Bradley Zimmer: Just as he was days away from being sent on his rehab assignment, Zimmer started feeling pain in his right shoulder, the one that he received surgery on last July, prompting him to be shut down. The Indians thought it would just be through Monday, but Francona said on Friday that the outfielder is still in Arizona and hasn’t started throwing yet.

Heading Home

A documentary on Team Israel from the 2017 World Baseball Classic is coming to the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland starting next Friday, June 21. “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel" follows the players on their visit to Israel and chronicles their improbable success.

Tyler Krieger, an infielder in the Tribe’s organization who was promoted to Triple-A at the end of May, was on the 2017 Israel roster, as was Nate Freiman, who is an assistant in Cleveland’s baseball operations department.

This date in Indians history

1979: Down 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jim Norris delivered a walk-off two-run triple to give the Indians a 2-1 victory over the Athletics.