Josh

Bard

The Tribe will likely recall only a few players from Triple-A Buffalo tomorrow as the Bisons are in the International League playoffs. It is not known if infield prospects Brandon Phillips and Jhonny Peralta will be summoned from the minors this week or whether they will remain with Buffalo until the Bisons are eliminated from the post-season.

If the Indians think they’re better off with Laker as a backup, they should have dealt Bard in the offseason. He’ll probably never again have as much trade value as he did then.

“He’ll play three innings, take a day off, play six innings, take a day off, that kind of routine,” GM Mark Shapiro said. “He’ll stay in warm weather [at extended spring training] until he can play nine innings.” Once he is ready, Bard is expected to head to Triple-A Buffalo.

He will mostly DH, but will start catching on a limited basis sometime next week. Barring a setback, Bard could return to action right after the All-Star break.

Bard will not catch for another week or so but will serve as the team’s DH. If all goes well, he could be ready to return to the Indians’ lineup right after the All-Star break.

Bard’s only been there a week, and he wasn’t hitting anything in the majors. If he continues to shine offensively, he’ll be backing up Victor Martinez in Cleveland shortly.

X-rays on Bard’s foot were negative. He will be day-to-day for the next week until the foot is pain-free.

It did look like the Padres were getting the more valuable property in the Doug Mirabelli trade, but five homers in 43 at-bats? Bard is hitting .395 and slugging .860 for his new team. It won’t last, but he’ll have to take more playing time away from Mike Piazza until he cools off.

He’s available to play tonight. Bard was suspended for his actions during Sunday’s game against the Mariners.

Bard fouled a ball of his foot during Tuesday’s game. He has no broken bones in the foot and could return to the lineup on Thursday.