Indians notebook

Martinez a hit on defense, too: Victor Martinez is an All-Star catcher because of his bat, but the Indians love his defense, too. “What he can do behind the plate far exceeds what he can do for us at the plate,” manager Eric Wedge said. “You’re talking about handling 130 pitches as opposed to three or four at-bats a game.” As a switch-hitter with a career .301 batting mark and averaging 21 homers and 99 RBIs the past four years, Martinez’s defense gets overlooked — unless opponents run wild on the bases. That happened in 2006, when Martinez threw out only 14 percent (16 of 116) of base stealers. Last season, he stopped 30 of 100, the third-best mark in the AL. “I owe that to my pitchers,” the catcher said of the staff’s collective ability to hold runners close. “They improved 100 percent. I worked on some things, but the results were all about them.” Wedge, a former catcher, respectfully holds a slightly different opinion. “Victor is very good and keeps getting better,” he said. “It’s been a consistent climb and he’s earned a great of confidence and respect from all the pitchers.” C.C. Sabathia credits Martinez for helping him develop into the 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner. “I won the Cy Young because of Victor,” Sabathia said. “He knows every hitter in the league better than any of us pitchers do. I can’t tell you how much he helps me in every way.” Sabathia, 27, and Martinez, 29, first worked together in the minors in 1999 and have established a comfort zone. “It’s like pitching to myself behind the plate,” Sabathia said. “He knows what I’m thinking without me saying anything. That’s weird, man. But it’s really cool to have confidence in each other like that.”

Today: The Indians will travel to Sarasota, Fla., to face Cincinnati at 1:05 p.m. Cliff Lee is scheduled to start against Matt Belisle. Those scheduled to follow Lee include Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers, Masa Kobayashi, Jensen Lewis and Jorge Julio.

Where’s Cliff? Lee hasn’t pitched this spring due to an illness of an undisclosed nature. “He’s been sick for three or four days, and that’s all I can say about it,” manager Eric Wedge said. “He played catch today [in Winter Haven]. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.” Lee, 29, came into camp as one of three left-handers working toward the No. 5 starter’s role. Jeremy Sowers and Aaron Laffey are both healthy and scheduled to pitch today as well.

Yet another outfielder: Jason Tyner was originally signed to a minor-league contract and reported to minor-league camp. He has now been shifted to big-league camp as an official invitee. “We were calling him up here every day, so we might as well give him a locker,” Wedge said. “He’s definitely an option for us.”

Combined dispatches