What to do with JC Mejia and 3 other things about Cleveland Indians



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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Indians apparently have no plans to replace right-hander JC Mejia in the starting rotation after his streak of poor starts continued Wednesday night at the Rogers Center.

One of the reasons is that there are no better options in the damaged and battered Indian pitch pipeline. Another reason is that they are about to play 20 games in as many days and Mejia is wide enough to be able to throw 80-90 shots.

Aaron Civale (right finger) was due to start an enclosure session before Thursday night’s game against the Blue Jays. But he still has to do a rehabilitation mission before eventually joining the rotation. Shane Bieber has yet to throw a mound since injuring his right shoulder on June 13.

Brad Peacock (0-2, 10.80) pitched four decent innings at Class AAA Columbus on Wednesday, but the veteran right-hander had struggled so far. Lefty Scott Moss was recently activated after spending most of the year on the injured list. Logan Allen, who opened the season with the Indians, is 1-3 with an 8.92 ERA in 10 starts, while Heath Fillmyer is 1-4 with a 7.65 ERA.

“We’re not at this point in the conversation,” said acting manager DeMarlo Hale, when asked if Mejia could be optioned or transferred to the reliever pen. “When I look to the future, we don’t have days off. This is a stretch of 20 games in 20 days.

“There are no days off to fend off pitchers and give them a little rest. Until I hear something different, or something changes, I watch him collect the ball in the next five days. The only thing you need to remember is that he’s reached the point where he’s capable of throwing 80-90 shots.

“I haven’t looked at where the other options would come from, but I’d rather have a guy who can throw 80-90-95 throws than trying to build someone. That’s where I think we’re at because we don’t have days off.

The Indians had a scheduled day off Monday, but they will face the Reds at Progressive Field in a makeup match after a postponement in May.

Mejia (1-7, 8.75) allowed eight runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays. On June 24, he allowed a run in six innings against the Twins. He’s made six starts since, going 0-5 with a 12.55 ERA. In 23 2/3 innings, he allowed 33 earned runs and 34 hits, including nine homers, in that streak.

N ° 1: Manage the heat

Oscar Mercado, in the ninth inning Wednesday, fielded a 100 mph fastball from Toronto’s Jordan Romano over the left field fence for the Indians’ final inning in an 8-6 loss. When the bullet made contact with something solid beyond the Rogers Center fence, it looked like a car crash.

On Saturday in Chicago, he passed Michael Kopech’s 98 mph fastball in the sixth inning of a 12-11 victory over the White Sox.

Mercado, who had a four-hit night on Wednesday, chokes on the stick and it has helped him deal with the heat.

“It all depends on how I see the ball,” said Mercado. “I give myself the first pitch in the first at bat to see how well I get the ball. After that, I start to choke a bit. Once I get to two strikes, depending on the pitcher and the bike, I’m going to choke a lot. I’m just trying to get the ball rolling and shake things up.

As for hitting Romano’s 100mph offer, Mercado said, “When a guy is throwing that hard, you don’t have to put too much swing on the ball. It provides much of that power. Just put the barrel in there and let the rest work out. “

Mercado started the season at the alternative training site and then moved up to the AAA Columbus class. The Indians promoted him at the end of June and he reached .250 (20 to 80) with two home runs and seven RBIs.

N ° 2: back pain

Receiver Roberto Perez missed his second straight start on Thursday with back spasms. Franmil Reyes also suffered from back spasms but began to have DH.

Third baseman Jose Ramirez and new center fielder Myles Straw were out of the lineup due to “turf management.” They started the first three games of the series on the artificial turf at the Rogers Center, but were treated to an evening off Thursday.

Ramirez’s home run in the ninth inning Wednesday night gave him 151 for his career at Cleveland. This tied him with Joe Carter for 13th on the Indian all-time list. Ken Keltner holds 12th place with 163 home runs.

N ° 4: Finally:

Peacock, trying to get back into the big leagues after barely pitching last season, allowed an earned run in four innings Wednesday as Class AAA Columbus beat Omaha, 6-4. It was his first solid performance since signing a minor league contract with the Indians. Alex call and Andres Giménez homered. It was the 13th circuit of Call in class AA-AAA. It was the 10th circuit of Gimenez. . .Will Brennan rolled in two rounds and Andruw Monastery went 3-for-4 as Double-A Akron lost to Altoona, 8-5. LHP Konner Pilkington, acquired from White Sox in the Caesar Hernandez okay, hit nine and allowed one run on three hits in five innings. The RubberDucks lost a 5-2 lead in the ninth. . .Georges valera hit two home runs (# 9, # 10) as Class A Lake County beat Lansing, 8-4. Micah Pries went 2 for 4 and Kevin coulter (6-3, 5.47) struck out four and allowed two runs in five innings. . .Class A Lynchburg scored seven runs in the ninth inning to beat Salem, 9-6. Petey halpin and Korey Holland driven in two rounds each. Miguel Jerez and Gabriel Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

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