Cleveland Sports Forum

No way does Japan compare with the MLB, though.

Rouglas Odor was a shortstop in the Cleveland Indians organization from 1988-1994. In 1995, he played in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, and in the independent Texas-Louisiana League.

Odor managed the Burlington Indians (Appalachian League) in 2001-2004, Mahoning Valley Scrappers (New York-Penn League) in 2005-2006 and the GCL Indians in 2007-2008.

In 2009-2010, Odor was a coach for the Kinston Indians. He moved to the Akron Aeros in 2011-2012, Carolina Mudcats in 2013, and Akron RubberDucks in 2014.

His nephew, Rougned Odor, plays in the Texas Rangers system.

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Texas tabs prospect Odor to take over at second

Rougned Odor, ranked by MLB.com as the No. 2 prospect in the Rangers' farm system, is taking over the position after Donnie Murphy went on the disabled list with a strained neck and Josh Wilson was designated for assignment.

The Rangers also called up switch-hitting infielder Luis Sardinas for a second time. But Odor will get most of the starts at second base until Jurickson Profar is ready to come off the DL.

Odor, 20, will be making his Major League debut on Thursday night. He was hitting .279 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 32 games, including .421 in his last nine games at Frisco. He was the Rangers' Minor League Player of the Year in 2013, when he hit .305 with 85 runs scored, 41 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs, 78 RBIs and 32 stolen bases at Class A Myrtle Beach and Frisco last year.

"I feel very happy to be here and fulfill my dream," Odor said. "I'm ready to play baseball. If I'm here and they called, that means they need me. So I'll be ready to play."

Odor was with the Rangers in Spring Training and received consideration when Profar went down with an injury. But he had played in only 30 games at Double-A last season, and the Rangers decided to go with Murphy and Wilson instead.

"We wanted him to get off to a good start offensively and make sure he wasn't a Spring Training mirage," Daniels said. "The reports were very positive. He is swinging the bat very well, his defense is good, his energy is good.

Yu Darvish with a perfect game in the 7th. Gameis currently on MLB channel.

Tanaka may never lose again.

Abreu with 13 homers & 37 rbis and the average is on the rise (. 380), Ramirez with 5 homers 25 rbis hitting .342, Viciedo Is hitting over .300 --------Nice Cuban connection. The loss of Garcia really hurt Chicago. The division finally has some equality. This works in our favor. No one runs away with this division this year. Plenty of time to play catch up.

Coors Field this morning:

Seeking to add some right-handed arms to their bullpen against Detroit, the Orioles recalled Preston Guilmet from Triple-A Norfolk prior to Monday night's series opener.

I can't recall a ballplayer who hits so many home runs to centerfield and the opposite way (right field) more than jose Abreu. They aren't just clearing the wall either. They are no-doubters far beyond the walls. I've watched him play in Cuba and although he hit homers to center and right, he also pulled many homers. Maybe his timing is off a tad against major league pitching, I don't know. All I know is he has big time power to all fields. Last night's homer in Oakland went to right field about 10-12 rows back.

Tanaka may never lose again. First complete game shutout tonight.

Ubaldo with his best start of the season, 7 shutout innings a couple nights ago. Maybe he always starts out slowly and then settles in? Or at least he did last year and perhaps the same course this season.

Meanwhile is see Pomeranz got a start for the A's and pitched 5 shutout innings. Maybe it will be a good trade for both sides. Except of course we no longer have U and the Rockies don't have Drew .

Including his numbers in Nippon Professional Baseball, Tanaka has not lost in his last 42 starts dating back to Aug. 18, 2012. Tanaka also became the first Yankees rookie to throw a shutout since Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez on Sept. 14, 1998, vs. Boston.

[ That's pretty good no matter what league one is pitching in. ]

Drew Pomeranz is coming in to his own the As. Now in the starting rotation, he worked 5 shutout innings last night and his ERA is a scant 0.94. Did Rockies get anything for him? We got a trip to the playoffs thanks to Ubaldo as a result of the initial deal.

Answer to my own question: Traded by the Colorado Rockies with Chris Jensen (minors) to the Oakland Athletics for Brett Anderson and cash. (Anderson started the year in the Rockies' pen and broke his finger in his third game and is on the 60-day DL)

Boy hit with foul ball OK; gets visit from players

Laird and Johnson visit young boy, as does Gomez, who hit liner

By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | 5/21/2014 7:07 P.M. ET

ATLANTA --

Instead of exiting Turner Field on Tuesday night thrilled by the sensation of having caught Julio Teheran's shutout, Braves backup catcher Gerald Laird was one of the many players and fans who were primarily concerned about the status of a young boy who had been hit in the head by a Carlos Gomez foul ball.

"When you come to a game, it's supposed to be a fun time for family and friends," Laird said. "It was just one of those unfortunate situations. The best part about it is everyone is OK and he's doing fine, and he's going to be able to come back and enjoy a Braves game."

The family of the young boy has chosen to keep their identity and status updates private. But when they visited the boy in the hospital, Gomez, Laird and Braves third baseman Chris Johnson all gained a sense that he was going to recover from the resulting injuries.

"We just wanted to put him in some good spirits and make sure everything was all right," Johnson said. "It was good to hear everything was going good and hopefully, he'll be back at a game soon."

Having received tickets from a friend, the boy's father brought his son to his first Major League game and provided him the treat of sitting approximately four rows above the Braves first-base side dugout. Unfortunately, these prime seats put the child directly in line to be drilled by the foul ball Gomez lined into the stands during the seventh inning.

"I heard it hit something," Johnson said. "Then I saw his dad immediately grab him and take off. That's when you knew, especially with the sound it made. It sounded like it hit two barrels -- off Gomez's barrel and then off another one. It's scary stuff, I'm just glad he's all right."

A father of two, Gomez said he had trouble sleeping until around 5 a.m. ET on Wednesday. After getting a few hours of sleep, the Brewers outfielder gained some relief when he visited the boy in his hospital room.

"The important [thing] for me is to have the opportunity to talk to him and see him and stay with him for [about 30 minutes]," Gomez said. "He was really happy."

While Gomez was able to interact, the boy was sleeping when Laird and Johnson arrived at the hospital around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two Braves players could still see blood around the boy's left ear as doctors ran tests.

But by Wednesday morning, Johnson and Laird were informed that the boy had awoke to the thrill of finding the various autographed items they had brought to the hospital. Each of the Braves players signed a bat, and Laird left one of his autographed catcher's mitts.

"Sometimes, there's more to the game than just playing the game," Laird said. "You want to make sure everything is OK. We just wanted to go over there, make sure he was all right and let the family know we were thinking about them."

Teheran had planned to send his mother the ball with which he recorded the final out of Tuesday's shutout. But he has instead decided he will give it to the injured boy.

"He's a young kid and he's here to enjoy the game and watch Major League players play baseball," Laird said. "Next thing you know, he's in the hospital. But the best part about it is he's doing all right and he's going to come back and enjoy a game with his family. That's the most important thing."

As Braves fans learned of Gomez's hospital visit on Wednesday afternoon, many of them took to Twitter to express that they had changed their feelings for the high-energy Brewers outfielder, who drew ire in Atlanta last September, when his animated home run trot when former Braves catcher Brian McCann would not allow him to reach the plate.

Memories of that incident and the benches-clearing incident that followed led many Braves fans to heartily boo Gomez this week. But it seemed like the perception changed on Wednesday.

"The Braves fans [are] being so nice to me and the media, especially," Gomez said. "They tweeted, 'You're a really good man.' Life is crazy. Before they hate me, now they love me."

Josh Beckett just pitched a no-no for the Dodgers!

and the Cubs are getting Manny