-- George Kontos was promoted earlier today, and has joined the club in Akron. It's a great step for a guy who two seasons ago led the organization in strikeouts. He's working his way back from Tommy John surgery, and I can't imagine he'll stay in Trenton too long before getting back to Triple-A, where he was before the injury.

Kontos' addition gives the Thunder three long relievers -- Josh Schmidt and Cory Arbiso are the others, not to mention Ryan Pope, who can probably work multiple innings as well. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see Kontos wind up in the rotation before too long.

Of course, when you add someone to the roster, you usually have to subtract someone. In this case, that someone is Tim Norton, who was placed on the 7-Day Disabled List with an undisclosed injury. This couldn't come at a worse time for the Thunder, who already have Grant Duff, their primary closer, on the shelf. Since joining Trenton, Norton has been pure euthanasia to the opposition.

Since his addition, the UConn alum has allowed four hits and a run over 10 innings. He's struck out 15 and walked just three. In other words, he was dominant. For now, I imagine the closer's role will be filled some combo of Pope and Wilkins Arias.

-- Perhaps it's time to give Brandon Laird a day off. The slugger, whose 81 RBIs leads professional baseball, hasn't been so hot of late. Over the last 30 days, Laird is hitting just .252. Worse, over the last 10 games, he's put up a slash line of .194/.250/.444 with no extra-base hits and just four runs driven in. I don't think it's a coincidence that he's played in every game this season.

-- Don't be terribly surprised to see Ryan Baker added to the Thunder's roster before the All-Star break.