CLEVELAND Cleveland Guardians Catcher Austin Hedges was placed on the 7-day injured list with a concussion on Tuesday, forcing the team to acquire veteran Sandy León in a trade with Cincinnati.
Before a doubleheader against AL Central, the Guardians reached the agreement — along with several other roster moves — Minnesota Twins.
Hedges received a foul tip on his protective mask last week and was suffering concussion symptoms Monday despite passing all neurological testing. He did not play in the series’ opener.
Terry Francona, Terry Francona’s manager, said that he was not himself.
Catcher Bryan Lavastida wasn’t an option because he’s dealing with a hamstring injury at Triple-A Columbus, so the Guardians sent cash to the Reds and brought back León, who played in 25 games with Cleveland in 2020.
Francona explained that Francona’s familiarity with the team’s pitching staff made Francona an obvious choice.
Francona stated that “most likely this will be short-term.” “We have all witnessed things change. We felt it would be easy to get someone our pitchers knew. Sandy was present in spring training. He was also present the year of COVID 2.0. There’s a lot there.
The well-traveled León started Game 1 of the doubleheader.
The Guardians also recalled Anthony Castro, a Triple-A Columbus reliever, as well as Konnor Pikington, a rookie left-hander. Pilkington will be starting the second half of the doubleheader.
Right-hander Ian Gibaut Awarded for assignment.