The Indians made a single move at the non-waiver trade deadline, one aimed at bolstering arguably baseball's best bullpen.
The Indians reached an agreement on Monday with the Toronto Blue Jays for right-handed reliever Joe Smith. The deal was first reported by Fox Sports and since confirmed by the club. In exchange for Smith, the Indians are sending two prospects _ left-handed pitcher Thomas Pannone and infielder Samad Taylor _ to the Blue Jays.
Smith, 33, will be making a return to Cleveland after he spent parts of five seasons with the Indians between 2009-2013. In that time, he recorded a 2.76 ERA. This season with the Blue Jays, he's posted a 3.28 ERA and 1.121 WHIP to go with 51 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings.
Smith, a familiar face, gives the Indians an even deeper bullpen to complement Cody Allen, Andrew Miller and Bryan Shaw. After Nick Goody and Dan Otero as right-handed options in the bullpen, Shawn Armstrong has been rounding out the group. Reliever Perci Garner was designated for assignment to make room for Smith on the 40-man roster.
The Indians were thought to be in the market for a left-handed reliever after the loss of Boone Logan to the 60-day disabled list with a strained lat muscle.
That issue in the bullpen was partially remedied, as was the issue of having six starting pitchers in the rotation, with Josh Tomlin's placement on the 10-day disabled list on Monday with a strained left hamstring. Lefty reliever Tyler Olson was called up to take his spot on the active roster.
It's a tough break for Tomlin, who in his most recent start had pitched four scoreless innings before having to exit the game. In his final four outings prior to hitting the disabled list, Tomlin had a 2.59 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings. Tomlin struggled for much of the season before he met with pitching coach Mickey Callaway to review film. That video revealed that he had been lifting his leg a bit too far toward second base in his delivery. Since that time, Tomlin had hit his stride.
