After an impressive debut, Josh Reddick finds himself optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. In 16 at-bats, Reddick hit .313/.353/.688 while filling in for Jason Bay and J.D. Drew and their hamstring struggles. While both outfielders aren’t at full health yet, last night’s game depleted the bullpen to the point where an extra pitcher was needed.
Billy Traber, 29, is being added to the roster. Traber, a left-hander, was a promising young pitcher for the Indians back in 2003. He’s jumped around since, and notched a 7.02 ERA last year for the New York Yankees (what was he thinking!?) in 16.2 innings. For Pawtucket, Traber had made four starts and appeared in 32 overall games, posting a 3.32 ERA in 59.2 innings.
While Marcus McBeth couldn’t be recalled thanks to the 10-day rule, the club could have opted to recall Fernando Cabrera or Rocky Cherry. However, Traber’s ability to pitch multiple innings likely factored into the decision to bring Traber up. It’s unknown how long Traber will stick on the roster: it could be for the foreseeable future as Terry Francona prefers having two left-handers on the staff.
Depth chart updated.
