Notes: Allen an option; Peacock signed

MINNEAPOLIS -- If the Indians would've needed an extra starter for Sunday, it would've been Logan Allen. Now, the team gets some extra time before making that decision.

Allen was scheduled to make Sunday’s start against the Twins at Target Field before a rainout on Saturday pushed Sam Hentges back another 24 hours. The team first had Eli Morgan slated to work the series finale, but it thought it would be better to give him an extra day of rest. Morgan will now start on Monday in Cleveland against Detroit.

Over the last week, the Indians have been without any of the original five starters who opened the season on the roster. They almost added one back on Sunday if Allen would've joined the roster, but he could still be an option for the team on Thursday, assuming Cleveland would be OK with him having that much rest in between starts.

Allen was red-hot throughout Spring Training; so much so that he forced his way into being the club’s No. 4 starter to begin the year. But his stuff didn’t translate into the regular season. He had two decent five-inning starts in his first two outings before failing to make it deeper than 2 1/3 frames in each of his next three starts. He was sent to the alternate training site following his last outing -- one in which he gave up three homers in the first inning -- on April 28.

“I’m doing a disservice to my teammates doing this multiple times in a row,” Allen said at the time.

When he went to the alternate training site and eventually Triple-A Columbus, he started having issues with his elbow and went approximately three weeks without making a start.

“He threw the ball so well this spring,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I think he used the word ‘managed it’ pretty well and then when he got down to Triple-A, because he had done some shorter outings here, some relief, I think that’s when it started to bother him.”

In his last two outings since returning to the rubber, he’s permitted four runs in six innings (6.00 ERA) with five walks and six strikeouts, throwing no more than 54 pitches in either outing.

“[He’s] not completely stretched out,” Francona said. “I think he felt like 75-85 pitches is probably a comfort zone. We need to keep an eye on it, though, because I think, not that guys don’t go hard, but I think there’s a difference in intensity and maybe adrenaline when they get here, so we’ll keep an eye on him. But he said he feels good.”

The Indians still have an option in Justin Garza, who's been a multi-inning relief guy in Triple-A, as an opener or a bulk man in any of the next few games. If he'd make his Major League debut prior to Thursday but keep his pitch count low, he could also be heavily used that day against the Astros.

“My guess is you'll see him these next couple games at some point,” Francona said. “We want to get him in there. Sometimes it's a little hard. Our starters aren't ready to go deep into games, but we're in games, so it's a little challenging.”

Tito on Peacock
The Indians made a much-needed addition to their pitching depth on Friday afternoon, signing righty Brad Peacock to a Minor League deal. He threw his first bullpen later that day in Columbus.

“You know what? Golly man, for a number of years there he really did a good job in Houston,” Francona said. “Kind of as a swing guy, he started at times, he's in the bullpen at times. But he did both really well. Got hurt and worked pretty hard and then didn't end up signing with anybody. So he's been home throwing.

“They’re trying to gauge where he's at. Again, when you have a need, you still can't shortcut something — that's not fair to the player. So once they figure out where he's at, then they'll figure out when to get him in games and how far to let him go.”