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Indians Tidbits (2008 season)

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Canton

Westbrook looks healthy during delayed first appearance
UPDATE: 4:12 PM, Sunday, March 2, 2008
By Andy Call
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. Jake Westbrook's sore right arm passed its first test drive of the spring Sunday.

Westbrook pitched a perfect first inning during Cleveland's spring-training game against Detroit at Chain of Lakes Park. He had been scratched from his scheduled start Thursday.

"It's a start," Westbrook said. "The arm felt good. It was what I was looking for."

Westbrook didn't take long to retire the Tigers in order. Brandon Inge popped up, Carlos Guillen grounded out and Gary Sheffield sent a fly ball to center field. Westbrook then retreated to the bullpen, where he threw a few more pitches to reach his 25-pitch limit before hitting the showers.

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Canton

Indians Notebook: Westbrook passes first test
Monday, March 3, 2008
BY Andy Call
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. Jake Westbrook's sore right arm passed its first test drive of the spring Sunday.

Westbrook pitched a perfect first inning during Cleveland's spring-training game against Detroit at Chain of Lakes Park. He had been scratched from his scheduled start Thursday.

"It's a start," Westbrook said. "The arm felt good. It was what I was looking for."

Westbrook didn't take long to retire the Tigers in order. Brandon Inge popped up, Carlos Guillen grounded out and Gary Sheffield sent a fly ball to center field. Westbrook then retreated to the bullpen, where he threw a few more pitches to reach his 25-pitch limit before hitting the showers.

"It feels a lot better than it did the other day," said Westbrook, who mixed one cut fastball in among sinking fastballs, his primary weapon.


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Dispatch

WORD FROM INDIANS CAMP

Monday, March 3, 2008 2:50 AM



HOME FIELD: CHAIN OF LAKES PARK, WINTER HAVEN, FLA. WEB SITE: The Official Site of The Cleveland Indians: Homepage

? Yesterday's game: Beat Detroit 3-1. Indians pitchers allowed just four hits, including one in the first seven innings. Michael Aubrey hit another RBI double, giving him seven hits -- four for extra bases -- in four games, including the intrasquad scrimmage.



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Dispatch

Spring spotlight

Monday, March 3, 2008 2:50 AM




0303_westbrook_mug_03-03-08_C4_219H803.jpg
spring_training_logo_03-03-08_C4_KS9G0KA.jpg

Dispatch reporter Scott Priestle is in Florida, splitting time between Reds and Indians spring training camps. Today he brings you ? Jake Westbrook

INDIANS PITCHER



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Link

Notes: Coaches adjusting to helmets
Equipment now mandatory in wake of Coolbaugh death


WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Apparently Luis Rivera and Joel Skinner are getting used to the idea of having to wear a helmet this season.
After all, both of the Tribe's base coaches were donning the helmets while grabbing a quick bite to eat before the Indians' Grapefruit League game against the Tigers on Sunday. "It's getting heavy," Rivera said of his helmet.

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Notes: Rivals respect each other
Teams will vie again for AL Central flag in 2008


LAKELAND, Fla. -- For years, the battle for Polk County supremacy in Spring Training play was about the only source of drama between the Indians and Tigers.
Obviously, the stakes have been raised for these clubs in recent years -- most notably in a 2007 season in which they became embroiled in an American League Central race that lasted into mid-September. That battle figures to be heated once again this year. And on Saturday, the Indians got their first look at the revamped Tigers lineup they'll be facing 18 times this season.

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Mailbag: Will Crowe get a callup?
Beat reporter Anthony Castrovince answers Tribe fans' queries


Does Trevor Crowe have a shot at getting called up in the second half of the year? Of course, we're all rooting for him back here in his hometown.
-- John, Portland, Ore. I've got a feeling we see Crowe this year. And I have a feeling it's for more than a mere September callup. His overall numbers from Double-A Akron last season -- .259 average, five homers and 50 RBIs -- don't really stand out, though he did swipe 28 bases and score 87 runs. But because of the way Crowe adjusted in the second half (he hit .192 before June 26 and .323 from that point on), the Indians feel stronger about him now than ever.

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ABJ

Elevated prospects can't bug Carmona Great 2007 performance might not be repeated as league hitters adjust
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008
DUNEDIN, FLA.: Indians fans are virtually certain that Fausto Carmona will win 25 games, throw at least one perfect game and keep his ERA to less than 2.00.
What's wrong with that? The odds are minuscule that it will happen, and it's unfair to put that kind of burden on a starting pitcher with only one full season on his resume.



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ABJ

Indians notebook
Dellucci eases back into form Home run in spring game indication of progress. Injury to Toregas' finger not considered serious
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008

DUNEDIN, FLA.: The Indians collected only five hits in losing 6-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday at Knology Park, but there was one bright light on a day when most regulars stayed back in Winter Haven.
David Dellucci homered in three trips to the plate. It was only his second spring training game and his first hit in five at-bats.
Although there is no reason to baby Dellucci, who missed the second half of last season after surgery for a torn hamstring, he is being treated with care. Moreover, he has to scrape off the rust from a half season of inactivity.


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CPD

Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona accepts pressure


Tuesday, March 04, 2008Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter
Dunedin, Fla. -- Fenway Park in Boston has been a shipwreck for Fausto Carmona. It shivered his timbers as a closer in 2006. In Game 6 of the American League Championship Series last year, it ripped his top sail.
No matter. The Indians' second 19-game winner -- the one that didn't win last year's Cy Young award -- is eager to test the reefs of Fenway again.
"Everyone knows I've had problems pitching there in the past -- as a closer and last year in the playoffs," said Carmona, through interpreter/bullpen catcher Dennis Malave. "But I'm hungry to pitch there this year. I'm waiting for the opportunity to pitch there."
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The Indians' only trip to Boston is a four-game series Sept. 22-25.
Why would Carmona so eagerly await a chance to pitch in a ballpark which has done him nothing but harm? Any pitcher who has gone from a 1-10 record in 2006 to 19-8 in 2007 is used to taking on a challenge.
There will be plenty of those this year, starting with the pressures that come with an unexpected 19-win season by a pitcher in his first season as a starter.




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CPD

More fires await Cleveland Indians closer Joe Borowski's dousing, says The Plain Dealer's Bud Shaw


Tuesday, March 04, 2008Bud Shaw
Plain Dealer Columnist
Winter Haven, Fla. -- Joe Borowski's r?sum? includes stops in Newark and Mexico, which is fine enough for a business traveler but not the desired route for an aspiring major-league pitcher.
Borowski once considered quitting baseball and taking the test to become a fireman -- his father was a firehouse captain. For some people's liking, he's a little too comfortable with the idea of responding to the sound of wailing sirens.
That he was responsible for the emergency more than once or twice while on the mound last season is the cause of much angst around Cleveland. Borowski has saved 81 games in two seasons, a league-high 45 a year ago. Not all of them were Wallenda walks across a wind-swept parking lot, but those are the ones best remembered.
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He was only 13-of-19 in one-run save situations. That's a concern, more so than his three-alarm 5.07 ERA.
One aspect worth measuring is his ERA in save situations (3.78) versus nonsave situations (9.60). Minus two early season disasters against New York and Oakland, his ERA would've been under 4.00.




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Canton

Indians notebook: Carmona's first day
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Tribe pitcher has rough outing vs. Jays[/FONT]
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Andy Call
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

DUNEDIN, FLA. Fausto Carmona picked up where he left off Monday.

And if you recall where he left off in 2007, that was not such a good thing.

Carmona couldn't pitch his way through the second inning of his first start of spring training, a 6-1 loss to Toronto at Knology Park. Seven of the 12 batters he faced reached safely.

"It was his first day out," Manager Eric Wedge said. "He wasn't quite staying out over the rubber like he normally does. He was leaning out a little bit."

"I felt good," Carmona said through interpreter and bullpen catcher Dennis Malave. "I was just overthrowing. It was the first time out. It's a long process."


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Canton

Indians left-hander Lee still ailing

By Andy Call
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

DUNEDIN, Fla. Indians left-hander Cliff Lee finds himself trailing the field in the early competition for the No. 5 starting pitcher's role.

Lee hasn't pitched this spring because of an illness of an undisclosed nature. He is scheduled to start Tuesday against Cincinnati at Sarasota, but Manager Eric Wedge said Monday that Lee might not make the trip.

"He's been sick for three or four days, and that's all I can say about it," Wedge said. "He played catch today (in Winter Haven). We'll see how he feels tomorrow."

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Canton

Francisco looking for an opportunity with Tribe
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
By Andy Call
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

DUNEDIN, Fla. The way Ben Francisco sees it, he's not asking for much.

"That's all I ask for, to just get the opportunity to play," Francisco said. "Last year I got the opportunity, and I think I did pretty well with it. I can handle whatever they put in front of me."

Unless something changes, however, what the Indians will put in front of Francisco is another plane ticket to Buffalo. Nothing against that fair city, but this would be the fourth year in Triple-A for the 26-year-old outfielder.

"I think I can get better as a baseball player, and I'd like to get better at the big-league level," Francisco said.

"But it's not up to me to decide that."

It's not that the Indians don't like Francisco, who is batting .333 so far this spring. The easygoing former UCLA star is one of the most amiable players on Cleveland's spring-training roster. The team certainly had to like what it saw from Francisco on the field as well.


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