It was announced on Thursday that the Indians were calling up right-hander Danny Salazar for a spot start on Saturday against the Twins, but the plan now calls for him to remain in the rotation while Zach McAllister will move to the bullpen.
Salazar was expected to land a rotation spot out of spring training after Gavin Floyd went down with another elbow injury, but he struggled during Cactus League action and was optioned to Triple-A Columbus. However, after striking out seven and walking none over six scoreless innings in his lone start in the minors, the Indians are ready to give him another shot.
Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com that they received positive reports about Salazar’s slider from his Triple-A start, which he feels could be the key to a breakout:
Salazar was great down the stretch as a rookie in 2013, but he had mixed results last year while posting a 4.25 ERA over 20 starts. Still, he has averaged 10.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in the majors and has obvious frontline starter potential. Can’t blame the Indians for going with upside.
McAllister was knocked around for five runs over four innings in his lone start last week. He was throwing in the high-90s with his fastball out of the bullpen last night (thanks, Brooks Baseball), so this could be a good change for him.
