On Friday the Revs activated right-handers Dumas Garcia and Shaun Garceau from the inactive list to the active roster and placed right-handers Santo Luis and Ricardo Gomez on the inactive list.

It’s unclear at this point why exactly Luis and Gomez are inactive, but their performance as of late surely hasn’t helped their cause.

Gomez has made three appearances so far this season and has given up at least a hit each time. In two appearances he surrendered two runs each. Overall, he’s given up four earned runs and four hits in 3.1 innings of work, striking out five and walking two. His 10.80 ERA is the worst among all Revs’ relievers so far. The numbers are way off what Gomez did last year, when he pitched in 21 games and collected a 2-0 record, two saves and a 2.13 ERA.

Revs’ skipper Andy Etchebarren had high hopes for Luis, who made his Atlantic League debut this season. The 28-year-old is a former prospect of the Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox who topped out at Class AAA with the Red Sox in 2010. Etch’ brought Luis in with the understanding that the righty could throw in the mid-90s. Back on April 22, basically the last day of Revs’ spring training, Etch’ had this to say about Luis:

“Am I impressed with Santo at this point? No. I’m not impressed at this point with what I thought I was getting. Sporting News picked him best arm in independent league baseball last year. He’s throwing 89-91. We have a lot of guys throwing 89-91. I thought I was getting a guy who could throw 93-95.”

In his first two appearances for York this season, Luis tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, allowed two hits, a walk and struck out three. On Thursday against Camden, he surrendered a two-run home run. And being that he was on a short leash already, that performance probably didn’t help.

Garceau/Garcia: Garceau was originally placed on the inactive list after developing tendinitis in his throwing elbow following back-to-back days where he pitched in spring training. Garceau later said he came to York in shape and ready, but he hadn’t thrown for the full week leading up to the beginning of York’s spring training. So, maybe that played a part in him building up arm strength.Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason has said previously he would like to start Garceau as a long-inning reliever and possibly consider him as a starter later in the year. At this point, Garceau just needs to show he’s healthy while building up his arm strength.

Garcia arrived in York last week after having not pitched for two months. So, he’s basically in the same boat as Garceau in terms of building up his arm strength. Garcia, 28, went 2-3 with a  3.68 ERA in nine relief appearances and four starts for York last season after joining the club in early August.

Cody: Starter Chris Cody gave up nine earned runs on ten hits in 3.1 innings of work against Camden on Thursday. In his previous start at Sugar Land, he surrendered three earned runs on five hits in five innings of work. His ERA has ballooned to 12.96. But don’t give up on Cody just yet. Looking back on his numbers in 2011, the left-hander began the year with three shaky starts (three earned runs in five innings, two earned runs in six innings, five earned runs in four innings) before turning it around in his next three (he combined to allow just two earned runs over 16.1 innings). So, he may be off to a rough start in 2012, but there’s reason to believe he’ll right the ship.

What to watch this weekend: The Revs host the Bridgeport Bluefish in a three-game series this weekend. Right-hander Omar Javier will get the start on Friday and will likely be relieved by lefty Jesus Sanchez, who was recently moved out of the starting rotation and into the bullpen. Left-hander Yunior Novoa will get the start on Saturday. Why is all this important? Well, the team recently signed former major league starter Shawn Hill. He’ll likely come out of the bullpen on Saturday. But Etch’ eventually wants to use Hill as a starter. The first three spots in the rotation (RHP Corey Thurman, LHP Ryan Feierabend, LHP Chris Cody) are pretty much locked in. And right now it looks like Javier, Novoa and Sanchez are on the bubble. So, their performances this weekend might have an effect on their future with the Revs.

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The York Revolution lost relief pitcher Ricardo Gomez over the weekend.

The right-hander signed with a Chinese Professional Baseball League team in Taiwan.

Gomez led York with a 2.13 ERA. He went 2-0 in 25 1/3 innings (21 games), striking out 30 and walking 12.

This year marked the fourth season Gomez has played in the Atlantic League. His first two were with the Lancaster Barnstormers in 2008 and 2009. He played for the Long Island Ducks in 2010.

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York Revolution manager Andy Etchebarren got good news from right-hander Matt DeSalvo on Monday.

A day after DeSalvo made his first start for the Revs since mid-July, Etchebarren said DeSalvo “feels really good today.”

“He feels no soreness in his shoulder or in his (pectoral muscle).”

DeSalvo has been recovering from a strain to his right pectoral muscle. On Sunday against Somerset, he tossed two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out two. DeSalvo’s pitch speed reached the low 90s, so his velocity appears to be OK, too.

After his start Sunday night, DeSalvo said he is now just working on building his arm strength back up.

“It’s almost like I’ve started my season over,” DeSalvo had said.

Cline update: Revs’ starting pitcher Zac Cline is probably about two weeks away from seeing game action. The left-hander has been on the disabled list since he tweaked his groin in a start against Lancaster on July 25.

“I started throwing catch, and throwing while dragging my back foot,” Cline said Monday night. “(Team athletic trainer Bob Burton) is being cautious because he doesn’t want me to aggrevate it again. I’m hoping to be back next week or maybe after that.”

Gomez leaving?: Etchebarren said Monday that there’s a chance reliever Ricardo Gomez could be signed by a team in Taiwan very soon.

“It hasn’t happened but there’s a chance it could happen. So, am I still looking for pitching? Yes,” he said.

Gomez leads the team with a 2.19 ERA in 20 appearances through Monday night. He has struck out 30 and walked 12 in 24.2 innings, allowing seven runs, six earned, on seven hits.
Though a possible depature by Gomez could leave a hole in the Revs bullpen, the return of reliever R.J. Rodriguez last week could negate that. Rodriguez left York in late June to play in the Mexican League. So far this season with York, Rodriguez has a 3.13 ERA through Monday, which includes his three appearances since rejoining the club this month.

There’s also a chance Dumas Garcia could be moved to the bullpen if the team can pick up another starter, Etchebarren said.

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The York Revolution could see the return of right-handed reliever Jason Richardson as soon as Tuesday night against Long Island.

Richardson hasn’t pitched in a game since June 12. He’s been sidelined since then with arm problems that first started with inflammation in his throwing arm.

“It started off that something with my forearm. My forearm was tight,” Richardson said Monday night. “I rested it and got a cortisone shot. That helped a lot. The pain went away. And then something popped up in the side of my elbow.”

Richardson underwent an MRI on the arm on Friday, and that didn’t show anything problematic.

“They said nothing abnormal. They actually said there wasn’t any inflammation or anything out of place or anything like that. Just something that I tweaked in there and it took a little while to go away,” Richardson said.

York acquired right-handed reliever Ricardo Gomez in mid-June to offset the absence of Richardson, who is multiple-inning reliever.

Gomez has already tossed 8.1 innings in fives games since June 22.

Richardson said he has been playing catch the past few days and even threw off the mound on Sunday.

“I felt alright. I took it easy on (Monday) and hopefully I’ll be out there (Tuesday) depending on the situation,” he said.

Richardson said he will ease himself back into the pitching routine, and it will likely take him a few appearances before he can go mulitiple innings.

“I’ll definitely have to take it easy for a little bit…kind of easing my way back into it. Once I’m back full-go, hopefully I can get back to a couple innings at a time,” he said.

“My goal is to just go out there, feel good and then just build off of that.”

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OK. So, lets recap the moves made by the York Revolution in recent weeks. Gone is relief pitcher J.J. Pacella and infielders Mark Ori and Juan Martinez. Added are relief pitchers Geoff Geary and Ricardo Gomez and infielders Ramon Castro and Jose Herrera.

And while we’re at it, lets throw in the release of shortstop Tanner Townsend and the signing of shortstop Eric Eymann back in early June.

The moves have turned out to be big upgrades for York.

Short stop: Lets start with shortstop. Townsend batted .209 with a home run and four RBIs in 12 games for the Revs. Eymann, meanwhile, has gathered a .299 batting average (through Wednesday) with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 19 games.

Eymann’s production hasn’t gone unnoticed by Revs manager Andy Etchebarren, either.

“Not taking anything away from Tanner (Townsend), but (Eymann) has played in Triple-A for a little bit. Tanner never even played affiliate. Taking nothing away from Tanner (Townsend), but (Eymann) is just a higher caliber player,” Etchebarren said after Wednesday’s 8-1 win over the Road Warriors.

Second base: Next, lets take a look at second base, where Castro has started since Sunday. Liu Rodriguez had been York’s everyday second baseman for most of the year until Castro arrived, but he’s struggled at the plate, batting just .254 with eight RBIs in 42 games.

Castro has collected a .400 batting average in five games (through Wednesday), seemingly picking up where he left off from last year when he set Revolution records with a .339 batting average, a .437 on-base percentage and 37 doubles, ranking second in the Atlantic League in all three categories.

Designated hitter: Like Castro, Herrera is also putting up solid numbers just like he did for York a year ago, when he batted .337 with 10 home runs and 87 RBIs.

Herrera joined York on June 10 just days after being released from Southern Maryland, where he struggled at the plate with a .239 batting average in 29 games.

Herrera has returned to his 2010 form with York, though, batting .382 (13-34) in his last eight games in the designated hitter spot for the Revs.

And Etchebarren believes the combination of Herrera and Castro has had an impact on the rest of the lineup.

“We’re starting to hit the ball a little bit. I really believe having Herrera and Castro makes guys relax. That’s what I think. I can see it. I feel it,” Etchebarren said Wednesday. “Guys aren’t going out there saying ‘I gotta do it. I gotta do it.’ They’re getting five, six hits in a game. Everybody wants to do it.”

Since June 14 the Revs have won seven of nine games (through Wednesday), averaging just over 10 hits and nearly six runs in those nine contests.

Pitching: York got two solid right-handed relievers with the addition of Geary and Gomez to the bullpen. Gomez made his debut for York on Wednesday night, and pitched two scoreless innings in relief, collecting four strikeouts along the way.

Etchebarren said he will look to use Gomez this season as a multiple-inning relief pitcher.

Geary, a former major league reliever with the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros, arrived in York on Thursday. Last year, he pitched in a total of 31 games at Class AAA last year at Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, going 4-6 with a 5.32 ERA. Geary, 35, has pitched in total of 287 games in the majors with the Phillies and the Astros.

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The York Revolution have made a few moves over the last couple of days. On Tuesday, York signed right-handed reliever Ricardo Gomez.

On Wednesday, York released infielder Mark Ori and signed former Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros reliever Geoff Geary.

And on Thursday, the Revs released reliever J.J. Pacella.

Ori batted .242 with a home run and 21 RBIs in 33 games for the Revs. Pacella compiled a 12.37 ERA in four appearances, surrendering five earned runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work.

Gomez, 33, made his debut for York on Wednesday night, pitching two scoreless innings in relief, collecting four strikeouts along the way.

This is Gomez’s fourth consecutive season playing in the Atlantic League. The reliever had a 3.13 ERA in 43 games for the Long Island Ducks last year. A Dominican Republic native, Gomez said Wednesday marked the first time in a month he had pitched in a game. He had last pitched for Panama in the Mexican League.

Geary arrived in York on Thursday. Last year, he pitched in a total of 31 games at Class AAA last year at Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, going 4-6 with a 5.32 ERA. Geary, 35, has pitched in total of 287 games in the majors with the Phillies and the Astros.

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