The Cleveland Indians have placed righty starting pitcher Anthony Reyes on the 15-day disabled list with ulnar neuritis. He will be meeting with Dr. James Andrews soon and that’s usually a bad thing. He had started 8 games for the Indians this season and he was 1-1 with a 6.57 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. This is bad news for Reyes as this was his big chance to prove what he could do.

The Indians have placed lefty reliever/starter Aaron Laffey on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle. He has pitched in 10 games (4 starts) for the Indians this season and he is 3-1 with 1 save, a 3.93 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. This injury hurts the Indians because Laffey was one of their better pitchers so far this season.

With Jose Reyes out of action the Mets needed some help at shortstop. With that in mind the Indians traded 31-year old righty swinging SS Wilson Valdez to the Mets for cash considerations. Valdez played in 41 games in AAA-ball for the Tribe this season and he was 24 for 121 (.198 avg, .470 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He is only a .210 career hitter in the majors in 112 games so the Indians are scared that he will haunt them down the road.

The Indians have demoted 24-year old righty swinging OF Matt LaPorta to AAA. LaPorta played in 13 games for the Indians this season and he was 8 for 42 (.190 avg, .572 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He will be back at some point this season, after all, the Indians only gave up C.C. Sabathia for him last season. The Indians have recalled 25-year old switch hitting OF Trevor Crowe to replace LaPorta on the active roster. Crowe played in 21 games earlier this season for the Indians and he was 6 for 33 (.182 avg, .462 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He wasn’t exactly tearing the cover off of the ball before the Indians recalled him. He has played in 21 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 17 for 74 (.230 avg, .618 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.

Grady Sizemore is off to the worst start in his major league career. He has played in 42 games for the Indians so far this season and he is 38 for 177 (.215 avg, .695 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 8 homers, 27 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. It appears that all of the losing is getting to Sizemore who might be putting too much pressure on himself to try to carry the team. The Indians have taken him out of the leadoff spot which is a good idea to take advantage of his power which is still there. Hopefully Sizemore’s bat catches fire soon because the Indians have to outslug opponents right now because of the pitching staff.