Wahoo Weekly Report, Aug. 1

Record Report:

Actual Record: 47-60, Last Place—13.0 Games Back

Weekly Gain/Loss in division: No change with a 3-4 record

Pythagorean Record: 54-53, Fourth Place—7.0 Games Back

What’s Happening

Manager Eric Wedge stated Tuesday that injured catcher Victor Martinez will not return as a full-time catcher this season. He and Shoppach will split time, with Martinez getting some playing time at both first and DH.

I hadn’t thought about it until I saw this, but it is the right thing to do. The Indians may as well find out what they have in Shoppach while Martinez returns from elbow surgery.

Also on the inactive front, don’t expect Travis Hafner to return anytime soon. A scheduled strength test on his shoulder (that was last reported to be 65 percent) was delayed due to a family emergency.

It turns out that Hafer’s father, Terry, passed away from a battle with cancer. It surely has been a trying season for Pronk. Now with Martinez likely to get some DH time, Hafner may be out until the spring.

Back to Kelly Shoppach. He is certainly playing terrific baseball while filling in for the injured Martinez. It’s no wonder that the Indians want him to keep playing. Wednesday night, Shoppach had a game for the ages, and became the first American League player since Indians legend Lou Boudreau in 1946 to have five extra-base hits in a single game.

Shoppach went five for six (raising his batting average 17 points), with two home runs and three doubles. Since taking over for Victor nearly seven weeks ago, Shoppach is hitting .303 with nine home runs, 13 doubles, and 25 RBI in 35 games. Can we maybe say that Shoppach will be at catcher next season with Victor at first base? It is worth a thought.

Why did Franklin Gutierrez bat second in the lineup against a tough right-handed pitcher in Justin Verlander on Thursday? Please tell me. We all know that he cannot hit a right-handed pitcher to save himself, let alone an elite one.

I understand getting Grady a day off in the field and playing Gurierrez, but second in the lineup? He’s a career .237 hitter, with a terrible .281 OBP against right-handers. I will puke if I see that again. Although, to the benefit of the team and its future, it was not Dellucci, as usual, in that spot.

Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...I mean Ben Francisco, broke out of his first real slump of the season with a four-for-seven performance against the Tigers, with two home runs. It was his first multi-home run game of his young career.

What were the odds? In back-to-back days, pitchers with ERAs above five would be doing their best Cliff Lee impersonations. Jeremy Sowers had a perfect game through five innings before the Twins broke through for two runs on three hits in eight innings on Sunday.

And Paul Byrd, on Monday night, threw 7.2 innings of shutout baseball, giving up just four hits. Nobody could have projected that to happen.

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