Indians place Ryan Raburn on 15-day DL

Jul 30, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona (from left), shortstop Mike Aviles, right fielder Ryan Raburn and first baseman Nick Swisher (33) celebrate in the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

With the Cleveland Indians within 3 games of the final Wild Card spot in the American League, they simply couldn’t afford to wait any longer to free up an active roster spot.

As such, the team placed OF/2B Ryan Raburn on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, with the move retroactive to August 19th as a result of inactivity. Raburn has missed 10 of the last 11 games as a result of a strained left achilles, and the team replaced him on the roster by calling up OF Matt Carson from triple-A.

It has been a strongly resurgent season for Raburn in Cleveland in 2013. For reference, he has posted a .272/.366/.574 slash line (good for a .940 OPS) and 15 home runs in just 224 plate appearances this year. That type of impact is immeasurable for a team with playoff aspirations, and he’s been worth 2.7 fWAR despite the limited playing time.

Because this roster move is retroactive, Raburn will be available to come off of the disabled list on September 3rd. However, it is still unknown how long he will have to sit, and it could be substantially longer than that timetable if the symptoms continue. In the meantime, the Indians will be playing Michael Bourn, Michael Brantley, and Drew Stubbs in the outfield, but the “pop” that Raburn has provided will be sorely missed.

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