HOUSTON -- When outfielder Jordan Luplow was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on April 13, Indians manager Terry Francona described him as a “casualty” of a situation in which starter Carlos Carrasco was pulled after just two-thirds of an inning, which left Cleveland in need of a fresh arm in the bullpen.

“That’s just the way the game is,” Francona said at the time. “And sometimes it’s unfair.”

But Luplow took advantage of his time with Columbus, posting numbers that showed his big league skipper that he was ready to be back with the Tribe. And on Sunday, Luplow was recalled from Triple-A, while Greg Allen was optioned to Columbus.

“I get it, it’s part of the game,” Luplow said. “Obviously, it sucks to have it happen to me. But you’ve got to roll with the punches sometimes and find a way to make it work and battle through that.”

Allen, 26, played in 19 of the Indians’ first 26 games, slashing .105/.167/.158 with a minus-14 OPS+. Because Allen was the team’s fourth outfielder who could play all three positions, it’s likely that Tyler Naquin will be Leonys Martin’s backup in center field.

“We just kind of told him we almost had him miscast a little bit,” Francona said. “You know, the majority of his at-bats where coming right-handed, which is not his strength. And playing sparingly in April for young guys can be kind of tough sometimes.

"So, go back to Triple-A where you can work on your swing, because he admitted, he goes, ‘I was kind of reaching.’ There were some things that he had gotten away from. This will allow him to get back to being himself. That’s all we really want. And then, you know, we think he could be a pretty good player.”

Luplow opened the year on the Major League roster, hitting .200 in seven games before being optioned to Triple-A. At the time, Francona said he thought the 25-year-old would benefit from playing every day. The right-handed-hitting Luplow slashed .353/.476/.618 with two home runs, three doubles and six RBIs over nine games in Triple-A, including a .385 (5-for-13) average against left-handed pitching.

“I’m just going to take it day by day and do my work, whatever I need to do,” Luplow said. “And just be myself. I think that’s what I realized down there. I don’t need to come up here and try to be more than who I am. Just play my game every day and I think that’s going to be enough.”

Francona isn’t expecting the lineup to change too drastically, but he said Luplow will definitely get at-bats against lefty pitching.

“You know, I get it. I’ve been in those same situations [with limited at-bats],” Francona said. “The best thing, I tried to tell Luplow today, you cannot play this game to stay in the Major Leagues. You’ve got to just play the game and compete, because some things are out your hands. Now, it’s easier said than done, but it’s just too hard the other way.”

This date in Indians history
1990: John Farrell tossed 8 1/3 scoreless innings to lead the Indians to a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Stadium.