Break Up The Wahoos!

I know I know. Spring Training games mean NOTHING. But watching your Cleveland Indians start the spring with a 5-0-1 record has to at least give you a little cause for optimism, doesn’t it? Consider last year when the Tribe Spring Training record was 5-15 and the pitching staff took turns with the gas can and flame thrower.

Its been a full week since the Tribe took the field for the first time under new manager Manny Acta. Now that “The Grind” is over, we get the sense that this is a looser camp. Unlike the past few years, there are little to no expectations on anyone that could weigh the players and coaching staff down.

Sure, there are three guys battling for two spots in the starting rotation (Aaron Laffey, David Huff, and Mitch Talbot); and there are two key youngsters in a dog-fight for the starting Left Field job (Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley). But for the most part, guys are just out there, playing hard, and trying to get acclimated to “Acta Ball.”

Here is what we have seen thus far:

Grady Sizemore takes on a new role – When Grady first walked into the locker room in Goodyear, other than Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner, it’s a whole new world. He is the leader of this team, even though its in more of a silent role. I’m sure he didn’t know what to expect. Upon arrival, his new manager, unlike the old one who seemed to coddle to Grady’s wants, told him he’d be hitting second. No ifs and or buts.

Acta knows that Sizemore is one of his best run producers and too many of his at bats (162 potentially) come with nobody on base, so why not change the script a little? “It’s a luxury to have a guy like him leading off,” said Acta. “Right now, I’ve got a couple of guys who are no longer here, and we need to lengthen our lineup.” To his credit, Grady says he is good with the move. “I want to do what’s best for the team. We feel it’s going to help us score runs.”

There is little doubt that Michael Brantley is the leadoff hitter of the future, but for the time being, Asdrubal Cabrera will assume the role. And what did AC do in his first at-bat of the spring as the leadoff man? Go deep in a 9-2 win over Cincinnati.

Jake Westbrook makes his triumphant return – After almost two years off, the steady, veteran right-hander took the mound for the first time. He was a little shaky, which was expected, throwing 38 pitches (21 strikes) in an inning and a third, allowing 0ne run on one hit, but walked three and hit a batter. While the results weren’t great, it was a relief to get that first time out of the way for Jake.

“Excited, anxious, nervous,” is how he described that first day to the media. “I thought it was important that he saw major-league hitters in a different uniform,” Acta said after the game. “To get the blood flowing. I wanted to let him loose. Cut the cord.” He gets his second chance this afternoon against the LA Angels. No doubt that this season is big for Westbrook in many ways. He is a free agent at the end of the season and if he can lead the Indians staff and return to his bedrock form, there will be a nice market for him next winter.

More importantly, if Westbrook struggles, the Indians most likely have no shot to make the season interesting in a weakened AL Central.

The Brantley/LaPorta/Branyan dynamic – Major eyebrows were raised when the Indians signed Russell Branyan just before the start of spring training. It was no secret the Indians were looking for potentially one more bat. But with such a left-handed heavy lineup, the signing of Branyan seemed a little odd. Throw in his bad back and propensity to strike out one out of every four times at the plate, and the Indians left themselves open to plenty of criticism.

This reached a peak when Acta came out and said “He’s going to get the majority of the playing time. We didn’t sign him to be a back-up guy. He’s going to play every day somewhere.” Defenders of the move will say that there is no way of knowing if LaPorta’s hip and toe injuries will have him fully ready by opening day or if Brantley’s September call-up (.313 BA) was a fluke.

Acta believes competition is healthy and the cream will rise to the top out of Brantley and LaPorta. The issue I had (and I wrote last week) was that all winter we were sold a youth movement, and now we are subjected to Branyan six-seven days a week.

So what has happened in week one? Branyan still hasn’t been able to play in a game thanks to his balky back. LaPorta made his debut mid-week, getting one at bat. He is in today’s starting lineup, playing first base. Brantley has played in five games – all in left field – and is hitting .357 with two RBI’s. His peak was a 3-4, home run short of a cycle game in Westbrook’s debut.

We shall see what happens with these three over the next three plus weeks.

The race for the last two rotation spots – Huff, Laffey, and Talbot have all taken the mound twice. Both Huff and Talbot – the lone righty in the mix – have allowed one run in five innings pitched, striking out three. Huff allowed six base runners, Talbot five. Laffey hasn’t allowed a run in four innings of work, giving up just one hit.

Acta has to like what he has seen out of these three so far. “These guys are still competing,” he said, “but we’re looking at execution and [these guys] trying to do what we’ve been preaching. They have to throw first-pitch strikes, work ahead and get their defense involved.”

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Lets see what the next three weeks bring us in Wahooland. Maybe I look through rose-colored glasses, but I like what I have seen thus far, from afar.

Photo via Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer