The Indians have placed 25-year old righty starting pitcher Zach McAllister on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 3rd, due to a sprained right middle finger.  McAllister has pitched in 11 games (all starts) for the Indians so far this year and he is 4-5 with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP.  The Indians have called up 26-year old righty starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco to replace McAllister in the rotation.  Carrasco has pitched in 10 games (9 starts) in AAA-ball for the Indians so far this year and he is 2-0 with 1 save, a 3.21 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  Carrasco also pitched in 1 game (1 start) for the Tribe earlier this year and he is 0-1 with a 17.18 ERA and a 2.46 WHIP.  Carrasco has now pitched in 34 games (all starts) in his first four years with the Indians and he is 10-16 with a 5.16 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP.  Carrasco will drop his appeal to his 8-game suspension for throwing at Kevin Youkilis’ head in his first start of the 2013 season, after his start today against the Tigers in Detroit.

The Indians have signed 37-year old lefty reliever J.C. Romero to a minor league deal.  Romero pitched in 13 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Nationals earlier this year and he was 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP.  Romero last pitched in the majors in 2012 for the Cardinals and Orioles.  Romero has pitched in 680 games (22 starts) in his first 14 years in the majors and he is 34-28 with 7 saves, a 4.16 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.  Romero will likely get a chance with the Indians in the near future if Rich Hill and Nick Hagadone continue to struggle.

24-year old righty reliever Jesus Flores is looking sharp in AA-ball for the Tribe.  He has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) in AA-ball so far this year and he is 5-1 with 5 saves, a 1.53 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  He has given up 23 hits and 11 walks while whiffing 36 batters in his first 29 1/3 innings so far this year, which is very impressive.  Flores has now pitched in 187 games (13 starts) in his first seven years in the minors and he is 13-20 with 30 saves, a 3.85 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  Flores could be moving up to AAA-ball in the near future for the Indians.

The Indians have placed 27-year old switch-hitting SS Asdrubal Cabrera on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained right quad.  Cabrera has played in 53 games for the Indians so far this year and he is 52 for 205 (.254 avg, .745 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 5 homers, 25 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  32-year old righty swinging Mike Aviles will take over as the Indians starting SS until Cabrera is ready to return to action.  Aviles has played in 39 games for the Tribe so far this year and he is 30 for 106 (.283 avg, .735 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 3 homers, 18 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Aviles isn’t as good a defender as Cabrera is, but he’s just as good as a hitter.  The Indians have called up 24-year old switch-hitting SS Juan Diaz to replace Cabrera on the roster.  He played in 52 games in AAA-ball this year for the Indians and he was only 40 for 190 (.211 avg, .591 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers, 18 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Diaz played in 5 games for the Indians last year in his first taste of the majors and he was 4 for 15 (.267 avg, .620 OPS) with 4 runs scored.  Diaz will likely get most of his work as a defensive replacement for Aviles late in ballgames.

29-year old righty starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez was pitiful for the Indians in April, but they stuck by him and worked with him.  Lo and behold, he has been pitching pretty well since May 1st.  Since May 1st, Jimenez has started 6 games in which he was 3-1 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP.  He has given up 29 hits and he has whiffed 41 batters in 35 2/3 innings in his last six starts, which are impressive numbers.  Jimenez has now pitched in 11 games (all starts) overall this year and he is 4-3 with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.  The Indians hope that Jimenez keeps up the good work moving forward.