It was a good end of the week for the Cleveland Indians after a three-game sweep on the road against the Detroit Tigers, but a hamstring injury to Carlos Carrasco has put a damper on some of the enthusiasm. After losing two of three at home against Seattle, the Tribe rallied and took it to the Tigers to finish up the week with a 4-2 record and 9-7 overall to land in third place in the American League Central Division.

The injury to Carrasco could mean a trip to the 15-day DL for the right hander just as Michael Brantley nears activation to make his season debut. It’s possible that Brantley could just take Carrasco’s open spot on the 25-man roster especially with all likelihood that Trevor Bauer moves into the rotation. That would be my preference as the Indians already were carrying an eight-man bullpen that wasn’t seeing a ton of action prior to Carrasco’s injury.

What we do know for sure is this gives Bauer the opportunity once again to show he does have the stuff and makeup to be a quality Major League starter. The Indians are going to need him to be one, because Carrasco was a critical part of the team’s future for 2016. Hopefully, Carrasco won’t be gone more than two weeks.

It’s also possible that an outfielder could be removed from the roster, such as optioning Tyler Naquin down to Columbus, to allow another pitcher to take a place on the roster. It’s my hope that doesn’t end up being the case as Naquin is hitting .303 in his rookie year and shows no signs of being overmatched at the Major League level.

With Jose Ramirez showing his new flexibility to play the outfield, that means the Indians will have six men who can play as outfielders, but I’d like to see Ramirez play a little more in the infield to give Juan Uribe some days off along with Jason Kipnis, who doesn’t need to play all 162 games at second base. I still think Terry Francona can be creative enough to give him consistent playing time, but we all know how he loves a large bullpen.

Francona also made the bold move of moving Carlos Santana to the lead-off position on April 22 and he responded by hitting a home run in his first at-bat to lead off the game and a double in his next appearance to help spark the Indians to a 2-1 victory. Santana also went 2-for-5 in the Indians 10-1 victory on April 23 and followed up with 0-for-5 in the Indians 6-3 win on April 24.

I’ve been a critic of moving Santana to the lead-off position, but I’m not going to argue about it when the results work. There might be times when it works with Santana in that role, but with Brantley nearing his return to the team, I’d still rather see Kipnis or Lindor in the top spot with Santana farther down in the order.

Looking ahead this week, the Indians will head to Minneapolis to play a three-game series against the Twins on April 25-27 with each game beginning at 8:10 p.m. After a day off on April 28, the Tribe will travel to Philadelphia to play a three-game weekend series against the Phillies. The March 29 and March 30 games each begin at 7:05 p.m. while the May 1 game is scheduled for 2:35 p.m.

Danny Salazar (2-1, 1.47 ERA) gets the first start of the series for the Indians on April 25. The Twins will counter with lefty Tommy Milone (0-1, 5.87 ERA). Milone has not impressed so far this season as he’s given up 12 runs in 15.1 innings along with four home runs surrendered. He’s also walked four and struck out 12.

Salazar has looked sharp in 2016 and in his last appearance on April 20, he pitched seven innings and gave up three hits and two runs, but took the loss despite a good outing.

Cody Anderson (0-1, 7.53 ERA) takes the mound on April 26 for the Indians, while Ricky Nolasco (1-0, 2.66 ERA) gets the start for the Twins.

Nolasco in three starts has hurled 20.1 innings and give up just six runs and 17 hits. He’s also struck out 15 and walked only three so far this season. He earned his first victory of the year in his last start after pitching 6.1 innings and surrendering only one run and five hits.

Meanwhile, Anderson will look to bounce back from his last appearance when he lasted only 3.2 innings on April 21 and gave up nine hits, five runs, and struck out three in a no-decision.

Josh Tomlin (2-0, 1.54 ERA) makes his third start of the season on April 27 and he’s looked great in his first two appearances. Kyle Gibson (0-3, 6.10 ERA) makes his fifth appearance of the year and looks to rebound after taking the loss on April 22 against Washington when he gave up seven runs in three innings.

For the Phillies series, neither team has yet to announce their starters. For the Indians, it remains to be seen how the Carrasco situation will be resolved, but I would assume Corey Kluber will likely make the first start of the series on April 29.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not

Francisco Lindor has been nearly everything the Indians could have hoped so far in 2016 following his rookie campaign. He’s hitting .323 with a home run, five RBI, three steals and an .811 OPS. For his last seven games, Lindor batted 10-for-26 (.385) with a .484 OBP and .462 slugging percentage and .934 OPS. Lindor also made an incredible play after he was knocked down by a rocket shot from Miguel Cabrera and got up and three the slugger out at first base. His energy, enthusiasm and leadership is helping to carry the team.

Marlon Byrd has been an underrated addition for the Indians and the free agent signing is paying off early in the season. He’s hitting .282 (11 for 39) with two home runs, seven RBI and is slugging .462 along with a .383 OBP for a .845 OPS. His downside at the plate so far is he’s struck out 13 times or 33.3 percent of his at-bats.

I’ll also mention Uribe, who also has warmed up with a 7-for-22 (.318) span along with .423 OBP and .409 slugging (.832 OPS) in his last seven games after initially starting the season in a 1-for-19 slump.

It hasn’t exactly been a triumphant early return for Lonnie Chisenhall. He’s just 2-for-16 (.125 average) with a run scored and one RBI in his first five games since he was activated from the disabled list. His playing time could start to decline somewhat if Naquin remains on the roster after Brantley is activated.

Mike Napoli has had some clutch hits this season and has been a been mostly stellar in the field at first base, but his bat has cooled recently as he has just four hits in his last 25 at bats (.160 average) with 11 Ks. He also has just a .222 OBP and .320 slugging percentage during that span.