Gomes day to day with mild concussion

CLEVELAND -- Indians catcher Yan Gomes was diagnosed with a mild concussion on Friday morning, but the injury is not currently considered serious enough to warrant a trip to Major League Baseball's seven-day disabled list.

That has Gomes trying to talk his way into the starting lineup.

"He actually wanted to play today," Indians manager Terry Francona said prior to Friday's game against the Astros. "That's not happening. But, that's good news. He's really feeling better."

Francona noted that, following a visit with doctors on Friday morning, Gomes is considered day to day with the issue. The catcher was scheduled to do some light activity on Friday to see if there were any lingering effects. While Gomes is temporarily sidelined, rookie catcher Roberto Perez will serve as the starter, and first baseman Carlos Santana will be the emergency backup.

The hope is that Gomes will be cleared to return to the lineup soon.

"[The doctors] are not ready to say that he needs to have a full seven days," Francona said. "So, we're going to probably go day to day."

In the fifth inning of Cleveland's 4-1 loss to the Twins on Thursday, the 27-year-old Gomes was struck on the left side of his catcher's mask by a pitch that glanced off the left arm of Minnesota's Kurt Suzuki. Gomes remained behind the plate for the rest of the fifth, but was replaced in the sixth by Perez.

Gomes said he began to feel ill a few minutes after the deflected pitch.

"I'm feeling better -- definitely better than yesterday," Gomes said. "I was spinning a little bit and I kind of started dry heaving, so that didn't feel very good. I felt like that was a good reason to take me out. Immediately, it didn't really hit me. It was more after I gathered my thoughts a little bit. That's when it started really kicking in."

Through 109 games this season, Gomes has hit .284 with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs for the Indians. The catcher has been one of Cleveland's hottest hitters in the second half, posting a .351 average to go along with five home runs, nine doubles, 17 RBIs and a .974 OPS through 29 games.

"We'll check Gomer each day," Francona said. "If he's getting better as fast as it looks like he's going to, we'll try to not have him go all seven [days]. And, if it looks like he needs to [go on the DL] at any point, then we would certainly do it."