CLEVELAND -- A foul ball has caused a ripple effect on the Indians' Opening Day roster.
Indians manager Terry Francona announced during Sunday's workout that catcher Roberto Perez was going through Major League Baseball's concussion protocol after taking a foul tip off his mask during Saturday's exhibition game in Texas. As a result, Cleveland is in a holding pattern when it comes to the final look of its Opening Day alignment.
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"He's doing very well today," Francona said. "He's actually going to go through the entire workout, but he still needs to pass a test before he's allowed to be placed on the active roster, which makes sense to everybody."
As anticipated, the Tribe placed left fielder Michael Brantley (right shoulder) and right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall (left wrist) on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday, while adding outfielder Marlon Byrd and lefty Ross Detwiler to the active roster. To clear room on the 40-man roster for Byrd and Detwiler, the Indians designated utility man Zach Walters and lefty Giovanni Soto for assignment.
Cleveland now has 10 days to either trade or release Walters and Soto, or reassign them to the Minor Leagues, if they clear waivers.
In light of Perez's situation, two expected transactions did not occur prior to Sunday's deadline for setting the active roster. Right-handed reliever Joba Chamberlain (Minor League contract) was not added to the Major League roster and righty Tommy Hunter (recovering from offseason core-muscle surgery) was not placed on the 15-day disabled list.
Technically, Hunter remained on the active roster, though the Indians are expected to place him on the 15-day disabled list prior to Tuesday's opener against the Red Sox. At that juncture, Cleveland can either add Chamberlain to the bullpen or select catcher Adam Moore's contract from Triple-A Columbus. In either case, the Indians will need to clear another spot on the 40-man roster.
Perez may or may not face a stint on MLB's seven-day concussion list. If Perez's condition is not believed to be serious enough to necessitate that step, the team could carry three catchers for a few days before officially selecting Chamberlain's contract.
"If he does have a concussion, or needs to be placed on that concussion disabled list," Francona explained, "we might have to get a little creative and hold Joba off [the roster] for a day or two. We've already talked to him. Hopefully, we won't have to [go that route], but that's kind of where we're at."
As things currently stand, here is a glance at the Indians' active roster:
Rotation:Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Cody Anderson, Josh Tomlin.
Bullpen:Cody Allen (closer), Bryan Shaw, Jeff Manship, Zach McAllister, Dan Otero, Trevor Bauer, Detwiler, Hunter.
Infielders:Mike Napoli, Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Juan Uribe, Jose Ramirez.
Outfielders:Rajai Davis, Tyler Naquin, Collin Cowgill, Byrd.
Catchers:Yan Gomes, Perez.