Indians Send Fausto Carmona to DL
By Editorial Staff
The Indians have placed starter Fausto Carmona on the 15 day disabled list with a strained right quad. The pitcher sustained the injury during yesterday’s contest against the Cincinnati Reds.
Carmona came to the plate with no outs and a man on first in the top of the 3rd innings Saturday. The pitcher attempted to bunt the runner over, but appeared unable to lay down a productive one. After the lead runner was called safe on a controversial play at second, attention turned to Carmona.
Knowing the bunt was a poor one, Carmona was doing everything in his power to not allow a double play. In hustling down the first base line, he lost his balance just before reaching the bag and stumbled over it. On replay it looks like something you would see on a blooper real, and it still might be, but the team realized that something was wrong and Carmona had to be removed.
"“I don’t know what happened,” said Carmona. “I didn’t watch it (the replay). I didn’t want to see it.”"
Carmona has struggled immensely this season for the Tribe, going 4-10 with a 5.78 ERA over his 18 starts with the club. The right hander has allowed over 20 earned runs in each of the first three months of the year.
His best month statistically was April, but even that was skewed by his Opening Day shellacking in which he allowed 10 earned runs over only 3 innings to the White Sox. It was speculated that Carmona’s spot in the rotation has been in jeopardy with his poor performance and Cleveland’s half game lead in the AL Central.
Carmona will undergo an MRI Monday to determine the extent of the damage. Regardless of the results, the Indians felt it best to take advantage of the All-Star break.
The club will have to replace Carmona’s spot in the rotation once before the break. Likely candidates for the start include Jeanmar Gomez and Zach McAllister.
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