CLEVELAND -- After a long stretch without any off-days heading into the All-Star break, the Indians will finally be able to enjoy some time off on Monday and Thursday. That means that the team can get flexible with its pitching plans.

The Indians sent starter Eli Morgan down to Triple-A Columbus prior to Thursday’s series opener against the Rays in order to clear space for Sam Hentges to join the bullpen. This is not a reflection of how Morgan has pitched since he made his debut on May 28. The club is taking advantage of getting an extra reliever during a time when it only needs four starters.

“We talked to Eli last night and told him it was nothing, certainly not an indictment on the way he pitched, because we were really happy with that,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “So what we’re going to do with Eli is, we’ll map it out where he can make a start in between and then join us again when it’s his day, and he knows that.”

Cleveland will once again need a fifth starter at some point during the first week of August. Until then, Zach Plesac, Triston McKenzie, J.C. Mejia and Cal Quantrill will fill out the four-man rotation. And because the Indians had to send reliever Justin Garza to Triple-A on Wednesday to recall Yu Chang due to Bobby Bradley’s back spasms, the team called on Hentges for some extra help.

Hentges started his big league career this season out of the bullpen and switched into a starting role in May. He struggled as a starter, and the Indians wanted him to work on his fastball command in Triple-A. Since his demotion, he turned in two scoreless relief outings and gave up three runs in two frames in his last appearance.

While Morgan was with the big league club, he continued to show improvements each time he toed the rubber. He wanted to eclipse the six-inning mark in at least one of his outings (which he hasn’t done yet), but was still able to turn in five consecutive five-inning performances. And it goes without saying that he’ll be back in the rotation when the club needs its fifth starter.

“He’s not afraid, and when I say that he’s not afraid, I don’t think anybody is afraid, but I think the kid has got some guts,” Francona said. “Guys don’t understand until they go through it, you can tell them, but sometimes [when] you make a mistake in Double-A or Triple-A, it doesn’t get hit. Here, sometimes they go a long way. So you have three out of five good changeups, sometimes that’s not good enough, so they gotta learn it, and a lot of the young guys I’ve said the same thing, ‘Man, you gotta live through it to learn it,’ and that’s true.”

Tito and Cash
Francona and Rays manager Kevin Cash have a well-known unbreakable bond that is often displayed in pranks, jabs, insults and laughter. After the Indians traveled to St. Petersburg just before the All-Star break, Francona was invited by Cash to help coach the American League club in the All-Star Game. And now with the Rays in Cleveland, Francona has seen his friend for the third time this month.

“I'm sick of him,” Francona said. “You can print that.”

Traditionally, visits to Progressive Field for Cash often require him to be on guard to prepare for any prank coming his way. But Francona said he has nothing up his sleeve this time around.

“I don't know where I saw it,” Francona said. “But they came out with the 30 managers’ career offensive numbers. And Cashie was obviously last, which I think was obviously a given. But I was next-to-last, and that really bothered me. I'm like, 'I'd better ease off the gas a little bit here, because that's not good company to keep.'”