Johnny Damon makes his 2012 debut with the Cleveland Indians tonight and Shin-Shoo Choo is reportedly back in the lineup after an injury. The Cleveland Indians, surprisingly atop the AL Central standings, could use the offensive boost as they continue their midweek series with the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night.
After a quiet off-season, Damon signed with the Tribe April 17 and was designated to the minors to get back into game shape. He hit .261 with 16 home runs, 73 RBI and 19 stolen bases a year ago in Tampa, but received little interest over the winter. But with Grady Sizemore down again, and an outfield just plugging holes, Cleveland could use the boost.
“He’s going to make our team better,” manager Manny Acta told the Associated Press. “He had a pretty solid season last year.
He’s been there and done that. He’s got instant credibility with these guys and he’s an outstanding teammate who’s going to help all these younger guys here. We’re excited to add him to the mix.”
Choo is back after nursing a hamstring strain. He will try to pop his first homer of the year against Chicago’s Philip Humber, who has been all over the map in his last two starts.
Just over a week ago, the righty turned in the 21st perfect game in league history only to follow up with a miserable outing against the Boston Red Sox in which he allowed a career-worst nine runs in five innings.
“This game will humble you, man,” Humber said. “It will make you feel good one day and make you feel real bad the next. You’ve got to take every game as its own game … It was just a bad day. I’ll just chalk it up to one of those days and hopefully next time will be better.”
Cleveland has pounded Humber over his career, batting .339 in two meetings.
The Indians hope for that kind of offense after being tamed last night by Chicago’s Chris Sale. The sophomore lefty went six strong in a 7-2 win, where he held Cleveland’s 1-5 batters hitless.
Humber will face off against Josh Tomlin, who has a combined 8.10 ERA in 
three of his last four starts.
“The consistency is not there, for sure, this year,” Tomlin told the team’s website. “You can’t go out there and go eight innings and then go four innings or vice versa. You want to stay as consistent as you can for as long as you can.”
The White Sox are favored by 1 1/2 runs, according to Bovada, with a -123 moneyline.