The Indians have placed 24-year old switch hitting catcher Carlos Santana on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left knee. Santana played in 46 games for the Indians this year and he is 39 of 150 (.260 avg, .868 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 6 homers, 22 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has a great eye at the plate as he has walked 37 times while whiffing 29 times this year. The Indians offense will suffer big time without Santana behind the plate. The Indians have recalled 24-year old righty swinging Lou Marson from AAA to replace Santana as the starting catcher. Marson played in 45 games earlier this season for the Indians and he was 27 of 141 (.191 avg, .530 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Marson didn’t do much better in AAA after the Indians demoted him to bring up Santana. Marson played in 37 games in AAA-ball this year and he was 25 of 124 (.202 avg, .697 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers, 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Chris Gimenez will back up Marson until Santana returns. Gimenez has played in 8 games this season for the Tribe and he is 3 of 18 (.167 avg, .472 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI.

UPDATE: (8/6/2010) - The Indians have officially lost Santana for the season as he needs left knee surgery. This is a huge blow to the Indians.

The Indians have placed 33-year old lefty swinging DH Travis Hafner on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder. Hafner has played in 82 games this season for the Indians and he is 72 of 270 (.267 avg, .798 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 9 homers and 33 RBIs. The Indians will use a lot of different players at DH until Hafner is ready to return to action.

The Indians have placed 26-year old righty starting pitcher Mitch Talbot on the 15-day disabled list with a strained back. Talbot has started 20 games this season for the Indians and he is 8-9 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. The Indians have recalled 27-year old righty starter/reliever Justin Germano to replace Talbot on the pitching staff. He has pitched in 24 games (7 starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 5-3 with 1 save, a 3.22 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. The Indians will likely call up a starting pitcher to replace Talbot when his turn comes back around in the rotation.

The Indians have placed 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Aaron Laffey on the 15-day disabled list due to left shoulder fatigue. Laffey has pitched in 25 games (5 starts) for the Indians this year and he is 2-3 with a 4.62 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. No news on who will replace Laffey in the starting rotation but Shin Soo-Choo is coming off the D.L. to replace him on the roster. Choo has played in 78 games for the Tribe this year and he is 86 of 301 (.286 avg, .865 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 13 homers, 43 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. The Indians will start scoring more runs with Choo back in action as they missed him while he was out.

The Indians have placed closer Kerry Wood on the 15-day disabled list with a blister on his right index finger. Wood has pitched in 23 games (0 starts) for the Indians this year and he is 1-4 with 8 saves, a 6.30 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. The Indians will use 24-year old righty Chris Perez to close games while Wood is out of action. Perez has pitched in 36 games (0 starts) for the Tribe this year and he is 0-2 with 7 saves, a 2.62 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He is likely the Indians’ closer of the future and the future is now. The Indians have recalled 26-year old righty reliever Jensen Lewis to replace Wood in the pen. Lewis has pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Indians earlier this season and he was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. If he could just throw more strikes (he has walked 13 batters in 21 innings with the Tribe) he will get to stay in Cleveland for a while this time around.