Salazar to DL; Indians activate Chisenhall

DENVER -- One player returned, but another was lost for the Indians.
Prior to Tuesday's Interleague game against the Rockies, Cleveland activated outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall from the disabled list and placed right-hander Danny Salazar on the 10-day DL with right shoulder soreness. The injury for Salazar was the latest setback in a tough season for the pitcher.
Indians manager Terry Francona noted that Salazar is heading to Double-A Akron, where he will work with pitching coach Tony Arnold and Minor League pitching coordinator Ruben Niebla. After a few days of rest, the hope is that Salazar can resume throwing off a mound with a rehab assignment to follow shortly thereafter.
"When he was with Tony, that's when he was really [good]," Francona said Tuesday. "He was young and he was on his way, and I think he has a good feeling about it. We kind of talked to him about a lot of different things. [Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway] and I talked to him yesterday, and he was on board with this.
"We want to be consistent with what we're doing, but we all felt like maybe it'd be good for Tony to see him and Ruben. Not that we're going to reinvent the wheel, but I think we all felt like it might be helpful."
Recently moved to the bullpen, Salazar has posted a 5.40 ERA in 12 games (10 starts) this season, striking out 77 and walking 28 in 55 innings. Dating back to the start of last July, Salazar has turned in a 6.27 ERA with a .297 opponents' average, 1.69 WHIP and 21 homers allowed in 99 innings (22 games). Over the final three months last year, Salazar fought elbow, shoulder and forearm issues.
Named an American League All-Star in 2016 for the first time in his career, Salazar, who had a 2.22 ERA in his first 15 starts last season, last started on May 27. While the right-hander has posted strong strikeout numbers (12.6 per nine innings this year), his command problems (11.2 walk percentage and 22.4 home run-to-fly ball rate) convinced Cleveland to move him to the bullpen for the time being.
Salazar logged one scoreless inning against the A's on Thursday, then allowed one run on three hits in 1 2/3 innings against the Royals on Saturday. With Salazar shelved, Cleveland's bullpen will return to a traditional seven-man setup.
Chisenhall rejoined the Indians after recovering from a concussion. In his return against the Rockies on Tuesday, he went 2-for-3 with a solo home run.

He completed a two-game rehab assignment with Akron over the weekend and was cleared to join the Indians in Denver. Through 33 games, Chisenhall has hit .261 (.877 OPS) with six homers, 13 extra-base hits, 15 runs and 22 RBIs, while bouncing between right and center field.