June 19, 2013

Choo breaks thumb, Travis Buck back up

June 25, 2011 by 5 Comments

Compounding the frustrations of last’s night loss in San Francisco is what appears to be a serious injury to Shin-Soo Choo.  His nightmare season continued in the fourth inning last night when a pitch from Jonathan Sanchez ran in on on him and hit his left hand.  It was confirmed last night that he had a broken left thumb.  He was immediately placed on the 15 day DL.  While further examination is required, it’s unlikely he’s back on the field in that time span.  ESPN.com speculated this morning that Choo could be out for the year, or close to it.

To fill his roster spot, Travis Buck was called back up from Columbus.  He has been on the I-71 yo-yo that Jenny Lewis trademarked over the past few years (sadly, Jensen was finally let go from Columbus yesterday).  Buck is hitting .228/.278/.347 in 32 games this season with the big league club.  The Tribe outfield is in complete disarray.

Buck and fan fav Austin Kearns will likely platoon in right while Choo is out.  The already struggling lineup is now littered with platoon and utility players – Buck, Kearns, and Shelley Duncan will now all see regular outfield duties.  It’s going to be a slog to get to the All-Star break.

(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Related Posts

Zemanta
Filed Under: Indians Tagged With: , , ,
  • Jason

    Maybe I missed something but where is Michael Brantley?

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Brendan

    Resting him with a sore shoulder – supposedly nothing serious.

  • http://www.redright88.com Titus Pullo

    Hopefully Masterson knows what he has to do today.

  • Matt S

    In other news, Nick Johnson might be up by next Friday (if not, he can opt to be a free agent).

    Right now, the options to replace Choo if he’s done for the year are this:

    Buck: Struggled after a good start to the year. Perfectly adequate 4th OF, but he probably shouldn’t be starting every day.
    Kearns: Yuck
    Duncan: Not bad against lefties, but not very good on D. Yuck
    LaPorta: If you move up Nick and put him at 1B, maybe you can move LaPorta to the outfield. Though, judging from his defensive performance there last year… yuck
    Zeke Carerra: Would probably be a #9 hitter… behind Hannahan. Would provide good speed & defense, but probably shouldn’t be anything but a 4th OF.
    Chad Huffman: AAAA player who has been hitting well this year in CBus. Could be worth a look, but a spot on the 40 would have to be cleared.
    Jerad Head: Head is terrible defensively, but he’s hitting over .300 at Columbus this year. That being said, he’s widely considered a non-prospect and has been slumping as of late
    Jered Goedert: Slumping now, but put up great numbers last year. Hasn’t played much OF, though.
    Nick Weglarz: Still rehabbing from injury, not even in Columbus at the moment.

    Other options include trading for someone (Ryan Ludwick is available I hear), Luis Valbuena or waiver claims.

    Despite his slow start, I think this injury hurts the most for the Indians this year.

  • Ben

    Kung Fu Panda is going to get drilled today.