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Slocum and Lewis called up: a sign that Borowski is gone?

The Cleveland Indians have called up both Jensen Lewis and Brian Slocum after last night’s marathon game in Buffalo. The moves will be made today to shore up their a struggling bullpen. As mentioned yesterday, Rick Bauer will be designated for assignment, and it’s also believed that Joe Borowski will be, well, moved somewhere. It’s my guess that there’s being every effort made to move Borowski in a minor trade, so that the Indians wouldn’t be responsible for the two million still owed the reliever. If not, look for Borowski to join Bauer in the DFA category.

The only question left is whether or not there is a move we haven’t been appraised of yet. Surely anything is possible at this point, after the Indians front office and field coaches met in Minneapolis to discuss the Tribe future. The moves will be made official before the game today against Minnesota.

There were some hints about the moves coming out of Buffalo, and the transaction reports late Thursday night.

The Bisons went extra-innings yesterday in a 7-6 loss against the Rochester Red Hawks. Sure, you see the 7-6, so you know that the Bisons must have rolled through their relievers, right?

Wrong.

Matt Ginter started the game, and went 7 2/3 of an inning. He gave up six runs, which should tell you that his job on Thursday night was to go as long as he could, no matter what. The Bisons were down 6-2 in the eighth when Ginter came out of the game, and reliever Bubbie Buzachero came into the game, to just get to the end. The struggling Bisons were down four, so Bubbie would go a little more than an inning, which was his norm.

There was one problem: Buffalo scored four runs in the ninth inning to tie the game. The game went to the 13th inning, and Buzachero never came out until the thirteenth inning, going five innings. It was the most innings that Buzachero had ever pitched as a reliever, and tied his most innings when he was briefly used as a starter. The bells were going off.

Jensen Lewis had pitched an inning on the second, but hadn’t pitched on the first. Brian Slocum pitched an inning on the second, but hadn’t pitched since June 28. Juan Rincon hadn’t pitched since July 1. Rich Rundles, the Bisons only player represented in the International League, came in to relieve Buzachero after he gave up a solo shot in the thirteenth, and pitched all of two pitches. Jeff Stevens is the only reliever that shouldn’t have shown up on the mound last night, having pitched two innings on July 2.

Rochester used a total of seven pitchers, in comparison.

Obviously, Cleveland has plans to move up some of these guys, or they would have shown up in a thirteen inning ballgame. Rundles was only brought in the game when the sacrificial lamb, Buzachero (went five innings, striking out eight, and throwing 77 pitches) had gone as far as he could go.

It was announced after the game that Slocum and Lewis were moving up.

More clues came in the form of the transaction wire. Randy Newsom has moved up to AAA Buffalo. Lewis had earned a spot on the AA All-Star team earlier in the day. Talk about a good day side-armed closer.

Newsome was 24 of 26 in save opportunities, was 5-0 on the season, and had a 1.75 ERA for the Akron Aeros. He came over to the Indians in the deal that sent Coco Crisp to the Boston Red Sox. No doubt, the Indians have their eye on Newsom as a possible replacement with the big club if it pans out for him in Buffalo.

The Indians also apparently signed Preston Larrison, a former career Detroit Tiger minor leaguer, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Larrison was a former top prospect, chosen in the second round of the 2001 draft, for the Tigers before he was derailed by Tommy John surgery. He has spent time on the DL every season since 2002, as healthy has hampered his chances of making the majors.

Larrison is a classic sinker ball pitcher, who asked for his contractual release when he wasn’t brought up to the big club before a July deadline in his contract. The Tigers quickly obliged. Leyland has continually supported Larrison, saying,

“To me, if Preston Larrison doesn’t pitch in the big leagues, that would be a shame. I mean, that’s as good of a sinkerball as you’ll find.”

Obviously not good enough to make it with the Tigers.

For now, Larrison will likely help take the place of Slocum and Lewis at AAA Buffalo. Is this a guy that’s going to mow his way through AAA, and find himself with the Indians? Doubtful, but this year?…who knows.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 9:12 am and is filed under Jeff Stevens, Brian Slocum, Rick Bauer, Bubbie Buzachero, Randy Newsom, Rich Rundles, Akron Aeros, Mark Shapiro, Juan Rincon, Buffalo Bisons, Matt Ginter, Eric Wedge, Jensen Lewis, Joe Borowski. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.