Cleveland Indians recall OF Oscar Mercado and LHP Logan Allen, move Josh Naylor to 10-day IL – cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Indians recalled outfielder Oscar Mercado along with left-hander Logan Allen from Triple-A Columbus on Monday. In corresponding moves, the club optioned lefty Kyle Nelson and moved outfielder Josh Naylor to the 10-day injured list.

Naylor suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Sunday’s 8-2 loss to Minnesota. Nelson has been optioned to Triple-A three times this season.

Mercado has spent the entire season at Triple-A, hitting .265 (22-for-83) in June with a .955 OPS (18 RBI, 23 games). On the year he is batting .216 (37-for-171) with 13 doubles, 5 home runs and 23 RBI in 45 games (.327/.392/.718). Mercado is tied for fourth in the Triple-A East Division with 13 doubles and tied for in Cleveland’s farm system with nine steals.

Manager Terry Francona said Mercado started the season slowly in Columbus, but in the last few weeks he’s shown improvement.

“He had been a lot better controlling the strike zone,” Francona said. “His batting average probably isn’t what he wanted it to be, but he’s not striking out a bunch.”

Francona acknowledged the struggles Mercado went through in spring training and during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and said the Indians asked the 26-year-old to make some adjustments.

“He’s still, quite frankly, making those adjustments,” Francona said. “So doing it here isn’t very easy. But again, we value that he can play all three outfield spots and hopefully, he can still continue with working on what he’s been working on.”

Allen spent April in Cleveland’s rotation after opening the season on the big league roster, becoming the first lefty to make a start for the Indians since Ryan Merritt in 2017. In his most recent Triple-A start on June 18 Allen tossed four innings against Toledo, allowing three hits and three earned runs. In April, Allen posted a 1-4 record with a 9.19 ERA in five starts.

Francona said Allen would be available out of the bullpen on Monday, but if he is not used he could start on Thursday.

“We’ve asked guys to be a little flexible, probably more so than the past,” Francona said. “Hopefully we get to a point, maybe tomorrow, where he can throw a bullpen and he’s not pitching in a game, but we just want to protect ourselves, too.”

Allen missed a couple of weeks in Columbus with a sore left elbow, but Francona said he feels good.

“He hasn’t had a ton of repetitions,” Francona said. “In a perfect world, he could stay there and pitch and call him up when he’s on a run. We’re far from a perfect world.”