I'm guessing because Francisco started the season injury-free, whereas Gutierrez didn't, even though I'm guessing their at-bats are about the same now because Francisco hasn't been in the lineup the last two games (I believe.)

Plus, Francisco has never been up to the big-leagues before, as you mentioned, so this will help him get acclimated and learn what he has to work on when he gets sent to Buffalo on Thursday.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

P.S.  Two things:

1. The weather in Cleveland is okay for the moment, but there is a strong line of storms moving in from the west - the game tonight could be delayed or postponed (that's just my opinion - the Western part of Ohio has a severe thunderstorm watch until 8 P.M.)

2. Ryan and Jay - love the new title bar - "Gritty Clutchy Leadership 24/7" - classic!  :-)

Hmm - that's a possibility - send Choo down since we already have several LH batters; maybe Francisco will be up for an extended stay.  Only time will tell.

I am very much for increased traffic between Buffalo and Cleveland, even for short stints - the "unplanned" part of The Plan has always been how to integrate the young talent the plan produces and relies on into the big leagues when ready. Its easy when your ML club has a lot of holes and isn't winning. When its solid and competitive you need a creative way to do that. Bringing up guys for short spans, rotating exposures is a way to do that.

I think it's a lot like having Carmona as the sixth starter or guys like Mujica, Sikorski, Perez, Lara, etc. - if you need an extra arm on short notice, you can rotate them up, keep them up for the 10 days, then sent them back to Buffalo and rotate with either with the guy you sent down initially or bring up someone new.

I could see where that would work with the OF as well; Choo was filling in for Dellucci, but now that he is supposedly healed, he could be the one being sent down because, as Jay mentioned, it does seem a bit odd why Francisco would only get 2 days up here.  Maybe they also plan to work Francisco into the mix now because most project him to be more of a 4th OFer, not play everyday type who shifts around in the OF, playing where needed.  Choo and Gutierrez still project to be possible, everyday starters who would primarily play one OF position (one in RF, one in LF.)

Just my 2 cents.  :-)