Gomes joins team in Detroit, remains on schedule

DETROIT -- Yan Gomes had enough of watching the Indians from home, so the sidelined catcher made the drive to Detroit and has spent the past two days with his teammates at Comerica Park.

Gomes is currently on the disabled list rehabbing the sprained right knee he injured on April 11 during a play at the plate against the Tigers. For the past two weeks, Cleveland's starting catcher has been focusing on strengthening his knee, and he quipped that the medical staff is probably sick of him by now.

"I think I'm driving them insane," Gomes joked.

Indians manager Terry Francona smiled when he heard that comment from the catcher.

"Good for him," Francona said.

The initial timetable given by the Indians for Gomes' return was six-to-eight weeks, and the catcher plans on doing everything under his power to beat that projection. While Gomes has been out, the Indians had posted a 4-7 record (entering Sunday) and have been dealing with offensive inconsistency without his bat in the heart of the lineup.

"I'm two weeks in now," Gomes said. "So, hopefully six-to-eight weeks is the worst-case scenario. Hopefully, I come back sometime before that."

In the ninth inning of the April 11 home game against Detroit, Gomes positioned himself with his right foot on the plate on a bases-loaded ground ball to first baseman Carlos Santana. Gomes recorded the out, but Tigers outfielder Rajai Davis slid hard through the plate and clipped the catcher's heel, resulting in the knee injury.

Gomes said the play was clean and he and Davis have talked things over.

"I know Rajai really well," Gomes said. "I know he would never have any kind of intention like that. That guy is fast, man, so when he slides, he's not going to slow down. We've talked. What can you do? He's told me he's sorry about what happened. It's one of those things you can't avoid."

Francona said it was great to see Gomes back around the team.

"I was glad to see him," Francona said. "I know he wanted to come up and be a part of this, which is not surprising. For a guy that's hurt, you sure see a lot of smiles when he's around. In a short period of time, he's made himself really important to this organization."