Guardians place Josh Naylor and Tyler Freeman on injured list, promote José Tena
Cleveland is promoting José Tena and has acquired Kole Calhoun
The Cleveland Guardians have placed first baseman Josh Naylor (right oblique strain) and infielder Tyler Freeman (right shoulder strain) on the injured list. Shortstop José Tena has been promoted from Triple-A Columbus, and outfielder Kole Calhoun has been acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations.
Losing Naylor for an extended period is a devastating blow to a Guardians lineup that was already no-hit on Tuesday without him batting in the clean-up spot. Freeman was expected to see more playing time once Amed Rosario had relinquished his stranglehold on the shortstop position, but Gabriel Arias will likely see the bulk of the starts at that position now.
The promotion of Tena is a bit of a surprise. The 22-year-old shortstop was only promoted to Triple-A this week, after slashing .260/.353/.370 with 103 wRC+ in 362 plate appearances with Double-A Akron. Tena did have a brief stint with the Clippers last season that only amounted to 23 plate appearances. This will be his first trip to the major leagues.
Calhoun is a much different story. He has spent more than 10 years in the major leagues but is in the twilight of his career. The 35-year-old outfielder has been with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate since June, for whom he has posted a .308/.366/.531 slash line. In 2022 with the Texas Rangers, his last season in the big leagues, Calhoun posted a 67 wRC+ in 424 plate appearances. I’m not sure he’ll provide much more than a warm body off the bench for the Guardians.