Indians put Santana, Swisher on DL
5/28/2014CHICAGO — The Cleveland Indians placed Carlos Santana on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion and infielder Nick Swisher on the 15-day DL with a left knee injury on Tuesday.
Cleveland also designated right-hander Blake Wood for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
To fill the two spots on the 25-man active roster, the Indians selected the contract of catcher George Kottaras and recalled infielder Jesus Aguilar from Triple-A Columbus.
Both players joined the team before Tuesday night's game with the Chicago White Sox, which started after a 40-minute rain delay.
Santana was hit in the head by a foul ball while catching Sunday in Baltimore. He was originally in the lineup for the opener of the series in Chicago on Monday as the designated hitter, but was scratched just before game time after experiencing concussion-like symptoms.
"He showed up [Monday] his back was sore, which we knew," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "But when he started to run and get loose, he got a headache, so that's when you have to start to be cautious.
"We talked to [the White Sox] doctor and they couldn't call it a concussion [Monday], but he sort of seemed like he had the flu and he also had a temperature. When you're having concussion-like symptoms, you have to err on the side of not playing."
Santana arrived at U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday still suffering from some of the symptoms and was placed on the DL after being examined again by a White Sox physician.
This is Santana's third stint on the DL in the major leagues and the second time he's been on the concussion list.
This is just the second trip to the DL for Swisher in his career and his first since May, 2005. He's been bothered by his right knee for much of the last week and was removed from Monday's game in the eighth inning after hyperextending the left knee. He woke up stiff on Tuesday and the decision was made to sit him down.
"You know, I've been very fortunate in my career that this hasn't happened very often, so it's kind of uncharted waters a bit," he said.
"But I think just with where we are and how we feel, this is the best thing for the team and everything. Hey, just grind through it, get better these next couple of weeks, just get ready to come back and have a killer rest of the year."
Swisher was scheduled to travel back to Cleveland on Tuesday night.
"We'll get him looked at [today], try to figure out what's going on and from there we'll know how to treat it," Francona said.
For Kottaras, this is his second stint with the Indians this season. The 31-year-old was batting .119 with the Columbus Clippers before being brought back to the majors.
Aguilar was batting .286 with seven homers and 19 RBIs in 42 games before being recalled.
He was in the lineup Tuesday at first base.