In the second half of the 2010 season, the Indians have begun looking at some minor league talent. Jason Donald was brought up, as was Hector Ambriz, Anderson Hernandez, and Frank Herrmann.
On June 18, the Tribe needed a spot starter for their matchup against Detroit, so they brought up 22-year-old Jeanmar Gomez, a right-handed pitcher from Venezuela. The move was a surprise as Gomez was actually pitching rather poorly in Columbus this season, going 6-8 with a 5.70 ERA.
So, why the Indians promoted a player pitching like that to the major league roster is a question I’m not going to think about, as when he pitched against Detroit that same night, he got the win. Gomez pitched seven innings and allowed two unearned runs in a 7-2 victory against the Detroit Tigers.
The Indians finally found a pitcher who looks like he could do a good job for the rest of the season as a starter, since Laffey doesn’t look like he’s pulling it off, and one has to think that Westbrook or Carmona will be done within two weeks.
So naturally, the Indians do the smart thing and demote him back to Triple-A the next day.
Wait, what?
You promote a guy, he gets you the win, which none of our other pitchers have been able to do all that often, and you send him back? If someone is pitching poorly in the minors, but does a good job when promoted, then there’s really no reason to send him back down.
Jess Todd was brought up to replace Gomez, which is fine since he’s had a good year in Columbus, but I’m not getting the thought process behind bringing up a guy for one game who hadn’t earned it performance-wise, and then when he actually does a great job you throw him back down.
It’s not good for him morale-wise, and it makes it look like the Indians are picking names out of a hat on who starts and who’s on the roster. I’d whine about it, but if I do, then they’ll promote him and demote Jensen Lewis for no reason yet again.
I understand that this was planned, that he would come up for one game and go back down, but…why?
Perhaps I’m making too much of this. Maybe Gomez will suddenly get better in the minors now that he’s had a taste of the majors. That hasn’t worked for Carlos Carrasco though, who’s just pitching okay in Columbus, or Jeremy Sowers, who I unfortunately think can be considered done now.
All I can hope for now is that when one of our starters is traded, if that happens, Gomez is given that fifth spot. If not, that’s taking the dangling carrot and eating it in front of the guy, laughing maniacally. He’s earned a spot in the rotation with that one snap decision.
Gomez is only 22 and has time to develop, but it’s the age of the young guys this year, hopefully the right move will be made and he’s given more than one opportunity now that he’s shown he can do it.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com