Rondon May Not Be In Columbus Long

I had mentioned back on Thursday that Indians top pitching prospect right-hander Hector Rondon could be on the move to Triple-A Columbus, and as reported here early yesterday afternoon he in fact was promoted and as expected newly signed left-hander Bobby Livingston replaced him on the roster.

Rondon will start for Columbus on Wednesday. Several of the Indians top coordinators and decision-makers in the front office will be there to watch. Considering that the Indians do not typically require a pitcher to get a lot of innings in at the Triple-A level, he could move fast and get promoted to the big leagues if he is very impressive and deemed good to go after four to five starts.

It will be interesting to see how the organization handles him these last three months of the season. He will obviously be a callup to Cleveland once rosters expand on September 1st, especially since Columbus pretty much has no chance to make the International League playoffs. But, he could be up to Cleveland sooner if a need in the rotation comes up or they decide they want to break him into the big leagues this year and give him four to six starts to have something to build on (and evaluate) for next year.

Considering he has already burned his option for this year, there is no fear of bringing him up and then having to send him back down to the minors. So, really, Rondon could be up as soon as the beginning of August if that need in the rotation is apparent. The key there, though, is how rehabbing starters Aaron Laffey, Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook come back from injury and if Carl Pavano is still with the team after July 31st.

My hunch? I have a hard time getting a read on when he will be up and how much exposure the Indians may want to give him this season at the big league level. He is pretty much ready to help now, but the factor which affects him the most on how soon he gets to Cleveland is who is above him and what happens with them (Pavano, Westbrook, Carmona, Laffey, Jeremy Sowers, and Cliff Lee). The Indians plan to bring up some young players here over the course of the last three months to get a look at them for 2010, and Rondon will certainly be one of them. The question is….when? Stay tuned.

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