Cleveland's Zach Plesac injures thumb on clubhouse chair after loss
Cleveland starting pitcher Zach Plesac is heading to the injured list with a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb, according to manager Terry Francona.
After his last outing that ended with a five-run inning at the hands of the Minnesota Twins that knocked him out of the game, Plesac was "aggressively" taking off his shirt in the clubhouse and caught his thumb on a chair, according to Francona.
Plesac is set to see Dr. Thomas Graham, a hand specialist, on Wednesday. The team hopes to have more details on the injury and how long Plesac will be out after the meeting.
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Plesac had been on a tear in the past few weeks leading up to that most recent start and is 4-3 with a 4.14 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 58⅔ innings this season. But Cleveland will be without him for the time being, which further complicates an already fluid pitching situation in the next week.
Cleveland now has question marks as to how it will piece together Wednesday's game (which doesn't have a listed starter yet), Friday's game (Plesac's spot in the rotation) and one of the games in Monday's doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox.
Logan Allen, who has optioned to Triple-A to work on some mechanical issues, could be an option for at least one of those games. Triston McKenzie, also optioned down after he struggled with his command, could be eligible to return with Plesac heading to the IL. Eli Morgan could be an option, among others, to make his major league debut due to these circumstances. A bullpen game to cover one of those three days could also be a possibility.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Indians at www.beaconjournal.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.