Nick Hagadone sent back to Columbus, Scott Barnes returns to bullpen Sunday: Indians Insider

Lefty reliever Nick Hagadone has been optioned to Class AAA Columbus. Lefty Scott Barnes will fill his spot Sunday.

View full sizeChuck Crow, The Plain DealerAfter some good early efforts out of the Indians' bullpen, Nick Hagadone struggled throughout June and was sent back to Columbus on Saturday.

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Clubhouse confidential: Second baseman Jason Kipnis, first baseman Casey Kotchman and designated hitter Travis Hafner did not start Saturday. Left fielder Johnny Damon also came off the bench.

Given that the Tribe was facing hard-throwing lefty Matt Moore on a sweltering night, manager Manny Acta figured it was a good time to limit their duties. Jose Lopez started at second and batted third; Carlos Santana played first and batted fifth; Shelley Duncan was the DH and batted sixth; Aaron Cunningham played left and batted ninth.

No, thanks: Because of the sweltering heat, Tribe batting practice was optional at 3:30 p.m. Four players took their hacks in the thick air: Lou Marson, Santana, Jack Hannahan and Grady Sizemore.

“Smoking,” Hannahan said. “Smoking hot.”

Doggone it: Josh Tomlin said he will spend at least part of the All-Star break at home in Texas, where he has two dogs enrolled at retrieving school: black lab Copen (as in Copenhagen); and yellow lab Case (as in Case Knives).

“Hopefully, when I get home in the off-season, they’ll be able to get all the ducks I shoot,” Tomlin said.

Stat of the day: Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo has reached safely via hit or walk to lead off Indians’ first inning in 22 of 49 starts in leadoff spot.

— Dennis Manoloff

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Indians left-handed reliever Nick Hagadone was optioned to Class AAA Columbus on Saturday afternoon. Lefty Scott Barnes will be recalled from Columbus Sunday.

Barnes was in the clubhouse Saturday but unavailable because the required 10 days had not elapsed since he was sent down. It meant the Tribe played with 24 eligible players.

"We're OK," said Manny Acta. "Our guys are well-rested, and if we get into any unexpected situation, we might be able to use one of the starters. But our plan is not to use any of those guys out of the pen."

Hagadone is 1-0 with one save and a 6.39 ERA in 27 appearances. On May 26, his ERA was 1.93. In 11 1/3 innings since, he has given up 15 runs on 19 hits, walked nine and struck out 12.

"Command of the fastball is the No. 1 thing with Nick," Acta said. "He really struggled to throw his off-speed pitches over the plate, which helped the hitters narrow from 2-3 pitches to just one, but he still has a pretty good fastball. If you can locate it and command it, you can get people out. He wasn't doing it, but we know he'll be able to do it for us [in the future].

"It's very tough for those guys to gain any type of confidence unless they're having success. Once the success went away a little bit because of the lack of command, the lack of confidence came in."

Barnes has allowed six runs on six hits in seven innings with Cleveland this season. He gave up five runs June 14 at Cincinnati.

"I think Barnesy has thrown the ball well in the limited outings he's had," Acta said. "He'll have an opportunity to improve that side of the bullpen."

Tomlin time: Asked to assess his performance to date, right-hander Josh Tomlin was brutally honest.

"Terrible," he said. "It hasn't been what I expect of myself -- by any means."

Tomlin is 5-5 with a 5.45 ERA in 14 appearances (13 starts). He has given up 89 hits, walked 20 and struck out 48 in 79 1/3 innings.

Because Tomlin will not start again until after the All-Star break, those numbers go in the books as his "first half," even though his most recent start, Friday night against Tampa Bay, came in the Tribe's 82nd game.

Tomlin is coming off a 2011 season, his second as a pro, in which he went 12-7 with a 4.25 ERA in 26 starts. Most American League starters would take those results in a blink, but the stat line masked something: From June 1 until his season ended in late August because of injury, his ERA was 5.24 in 99 2/3 innings.

Tomlin insists his confidence has not been shaken by the protracted rough stretches.

"I can get better, and I will get better," he said. "I'm not going to settle for, 'Oh, OK, everybody goes through periods like this.' You can always rebound and make things better. I have no doubt I can return to being the pitcher this team needs me to be."

Such a pitcher was on display Friday, when Tomlin gave up one run on two hits and walked none in seven innings of the Tribe's 3-1 victory. He made a mechanical adjustment, staying on his backside a tad longer, and it paid off.

"I closed my hips a little more over the rubber and created a little more torque," he said. "That freed up my arm more and made all my pitches better."

Difference maker: Tomlin's repertoire includes two-seam, four-seam and cut-fastballs, a curve and change-up. Tomlin never will overpower batters, so he needs the off-speed stuff to be superb. The curve, for the most part, has been there, but the change-up has let him down.

"I just haven't had the consistent feel for the change-up," he said. "I keep searching for it. I threw some good ones against Tampa Bay, but I threw some bad ones, too. The key is maintaining my arm speed. When my changeup is on, it's a very effective pitch for me."

Finally: The Indians' rotation coming out of the break will be Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Derek Lowe, Zach McAllister and Tomlin.

On Twitter: @dmansworldpd

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2012/07/cleveland_indians_daily_briefi_1.html

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