Tribe hopes McAllister's finger improves with rest

NEW YORK -- The Indians have an unfortunate history when it comes to pitchers and finger injuries. Former prospect Adam Miller had his career derailed by right middle finger complications, and Alex White dealt with a similar problem in his days as a highly touted arm in Cleveland's system.

The Indians are confident Zach McAllister is not heading down a similar path.

"It's nothing like that," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "We looked into it."

McAllister is currently dealing with irritation in his right middle finger and will have his next start pushed back as a result. With an off-day coming on Thursday, Cleveland plans on delaying McAllister's next outing until next Tuesday, when it will play the second of three games at Texas. McAllister had been slated to pitch next on Friday in Detroit.

Callaway reiterated that McAllister's injury is not considered severe.

"It's just a little irritation, soreness," Callaway said. "It's nothing serious."

The injury flared between McAllister's past two starts and hindered the right-hander's ability to use his curveball in his outing on Sunday against the Rays. McAllister lasted just 4 1/3 innings, striking out none, walking four and allowing five runs on seven hits.

McAllister has gone 1-2 with a 6.14 ERA in his last three turns after opening the season 3-3 with a 2.65 ERA in his first eight starts.

The pitcher said the finger injury became an issue in his start against Tampa Bay.

"It was difficult," said McAllister, who is 4-5 with a 3.43 ERA this season. "I had times where it felt really good, but there were other times where I might've let it get in my head a little bit, and I was babying pitches instead of letting it go. It definitely made it more difficult than I would've liked.

"I just don't want it to get any worse than it was, so we're taking advantage of the off-day and trying to get it better."