CLEVELAND — The Indians not only lost a game to the Tigers Saturday night, they also lost their catcher. In the ninth inning of the Indians’ 9-6 loss, catcher Yan Gomes suffered a moderate sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee when Detroit outfielder Rajai Davis slid hard into Gomes, who was stretching for a throw from first baseman Carlos Santana.
The Indians placed Gomes on the DL Sunday morning. He is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks. While Gomes is out, the Indians’ everyday catcher will be Roberto Perez, who has played well as Gomes’ backup in the second half of last season and early this year, hitting .281 in 89 at-bats over 31 games.
Manager Terry Francona is confident in Perez’s ability to replace Gomes in the lineup.
“We’re very fortunate,” said Francona. “Losing Gomes, that can be a season killer, but Perez can handle this. He’s strong enough to catch every day.”
In 174 at-bats at Triple-A Columbus last year prior to being recalled by the Indians, Perez was hitting .305 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs in 174 at-bats. “His batting average is not the end all and be all,” Francona said. “But the fact that he’s a threat is important because he can drive the ball out of the park.”
That doesn’t minimize the loss of Gomes, however. Prior to the start of the 2014 season, he signed a six-year, $23 million contract extension, and he responded by winning a Silver Slugger Award after leading all American League catchers in batting average (.278), OPS (.785) and extra-base hits (49) and was second in RBIs (74) and third in home runs (21). He also caught Cy Young Award winner RHP Corey Kluber and threw out 29 percent of attempted base stealers, the second-highest percentage of any American League catcher.