Red-hot Gomes turning his season around

The only foolproof way to cool off Indians catcher Yan Gomes these days is to start Roberto Perez behind the plate, as Tribe manager Terry Francona did on May 24 when Trevor Bauer was the Indians’ starting pitcher.

Gomes is slated to start against Cincinnati on May 25 at Progressive with Mike Clevinger scheduled to start. That is good for the Indians — not so good for Reds scheduled starting pitcher Tim Adleman, who already has 6.19 ERA.

Gomes, since April 23, is 23 for 68 (.338) with 10 runs scored, eight doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. His turnaround has been one of the most remarkable stories of the first quarter of the season.

“I’ve gotten healthy,” Gomes said recently. “I didn’t have to hit the ground running when I missed so much time. I’m letting myself play into the player I’ve been. It’s just a matter of trying to get competitive at-bats. I think they’re going to turn out all right.

“I’ve always known I’ve been a pretty good hitter. (2015) wasn’t a terrible year. For being hurt, I still ended up doing all right.”

Remember Esmil Rogers? Don’t worry about it if you don’t.

Rogers is a right-handed pitcher who went 3-1 for the Tribe in 2012 while pitching 53 innings in 44 appearances.

Anyway, on Nov. 3, 2012, the Indians traded Esmil Rogers to the Toronto Blue Jays for Gomes and infielder Jeff Schudel Mike Aviles. To say the Indians got the best of that bargain is to say Andrew Miller is a pretty good relief pitcher.

Gomes played 88 games with the Indians in 2013 and hit .294. A season later he hit .278, crushed 21 home runs and drove in 74 runs.

A knee injury hampered Gomes in 2015, yet he still hit .231 and drove in 45 runs. He homered 12 times.

Last year the injuries were too much to overcome — first a separated shoulder and then a broken hand when he was hit by a pitch in his last rehab start before returning to the Indians.

The broken hand cheated him out of the postseason last year until he got four at-bats in the World Series.

Gomes hit the ball well in spring training this year, but he couldn’t hit when the regular season started. He managed just two hits in his first 30 atbats. And yet while he struggled, manager Terry Francona stayed loyal to Gomes, and now that loyalty is paying off.

“When you see a few hits, when you see a few results, you get a little bit of confidence and you start to relax and can do some of the things you can do,” Francona said. “I think he was trying so hard to get a hit that you’re squeezing the bat. I think mechanically he was having some things he was working through. But I think also when you start to relax, some of those mechanical things happen because you’re allowing it to happen. He’s swinging at more good pitches, and when he gets it, he’s putting on a good swing and he’s using the whole field.”

There has never been a doubt about Gomes as a catcher, both the way he calls a game behind the plate and the way he is death to would-be base stealers. He has thrown out 21 of 50 runners since the start of the 2016 season.

He and Perez give the Indians one of the best tandems in the league.

“I know I’ve said it a lot, but he and Roberto, whether there are struggles offensively or not, it’s really hard for teams to run,” Francona said. “You’ve never seen a team come in here and run all over the place. And in big situations, that’s most of the time when they have their best throws, and it’s a huge asset. For a coaching staff, it’s a good feeling knowing your guys can throw it as good as anyone in the game. We all feel that way.”

Some players take their struggles at the plate to the field with them. Errors follow, and if not errors, plays that should be made are not made. Gomes never had that problem even when things were going badly.

“Being a catcher, you don’t have the privilege of sitting out there and maybe you can hide yourself and the ball might not come to you,” he said. “You have to have your head in the game on every pitch or you’re going to hurt your team.”

Gomes is heating up. It is no coincidence the Indians are heating up, too.

Reach Schudel at JSchudel@NewsHerald.com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider