Indians activate Cabrera, option Hagadone to Columbus

Today the Cleveland Indians announced that they have activated shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera from the bereavement list.  To allow room on the 25-man roster they have optioned left-handed reliever Nick Hagadone to Triple-A Columbus.

In eight games for the Indians this season Cabrera is hitting .282 (11-for-39) with 2 HR, 3 RBI and .846 OPS. He is returning from his native country of Venezuela after a death in his family on April 16th resulted in him leaving the team and being put on the bereavement list.  He missed the last six games of the Indians' recent road trip, all of which were in Seatte and Oakland.

In three appearances Hagadone had a 2.70 ERA and in 3.1 innings allowed 2 hits, 1 walks, and had 4 striekouts. At Columbus this season he has made four appearances and not allowed a fun in 5.1 innings, and allowed 2 hits, 1 walk and has 5 strikeouts.

The move comes as somewhat of a surprise as Hagadone is one of the Indians best young pitching prospects and is pretty much Major League ready. He just missed making the team out of spring training, but it appears the Indians are not yet ready to pull the plug on other decisions they made for the bullpen to start the season - namely right-handers Jairo Ascensio and Dan Wheeler.

Also, as much as left-hander Tony Sipp has struggled, and even though he has an option to return to the minors, he has almost three years of experience in the Indians' bullpen and the Indians are likely giving him a longer leash before making a move on him.

Either way, the Indians will need another bullpen arm in the near future, and Hagadone has established himself as a good Major League ready option ready to replace almost anything lost in the big league bullpen. He should be the first option the Indians call up when such a need arises.

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