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Indians expect to contend in AL Central
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Cleveland Indians pitcher Derek Lowe throws during a spring-training workout in Goodyear, Ariz., on Tuesday.
Associated Press
GOODYEAR, Ariz.
On a cinder-block wall adjacent to the front entrance of the Indians’ training complex, a large script “I” has been replaced this year by a block “C,” which, of course, stands for Cleveland.
The Indians would like to believe it also symbolizes that they’re contenders.
However, just being in the hunt or near the top won’t be enough for closer Chris Perez, sporting a full beard and longer hair this spring. He’s done with rebuilding, second-place and any talk about waiting until next year.
Perez wants more for the Indians in 2012.
“We were contending last year,” he said. “Winning is the word this year. I don’t want to compete. I want to win.”
Leave it to Perez to bring the early heat during the first week of training camp. The right-hander had 36 saves last season, but he couldn’t do anything to stop the Indians’ late-season slide in the standings. Cleveland’s surprising 30-15 start was followed by an equally abrupt collapse as an avalanche of injuries overwhelmed the Indians in September.
The Indians finished 15 games behind AL Central-champion Detroit, the odds-on favorites to win the division again this year after adding slugger Prince Fielder.
Looking back on 2011, Perez doesn’t remember the start as much as the finish.
“It was fun last year while it lasted, but at the end of the year I had a bitter taste in my month,” Perez said. “After the [trade] deadline, the Tigers kind of took off and played at another level and we went the other way, but they weren’t a better team than us in the first half. This year, we don’t have any excuses.”
The Indians hold their first official workout for pitchers and catchers today, with the full squad set to take the field for the first time Saturday.
It seemed hardly a day went by without one of Cleveland’s players being hurt last season.
The Indians lost their entire starting outfield to injuries, had two starting pitchers go down, used the disabled list 22 times (second most in the AL) and had their four most established hitters — Shin-Soo Choo, Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera — in the same lineup just 17 times all season.
“You try to do as much as you can to prevent them,” Perez said, “but we had so many that were just freak injuries. There’s nothing you can do.”
The Indians are hoping both Sizemore, who re-signed with the club as a free agent, and Choo can bounce back and have productive years. Choo seemed to have rebounded from a slow start in 2011 when he was hit on the thumb with a pitch, needed surgery and missed six weeks.
The club’s best player in 2010, Choo played in just 85 games.
There are only a few open jobs.
Four spots in the rotation are taken by Ubaldo Jimenez, Justin Masterson, Derek Lowe and Josh Tomlin, with the fifth open because of legal problems involving the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona, arrested in the Dominican Republic on false identity charges.
Carmona, whose real name is Roberto Hernandez, is on baseball’s restricted list. The Indians don’t know when — or if — he will be with them this season.
Manager Manny Acta has to fill two bullpen openings, pick between Jack Hannahan and Lonnie Chisenhall as his starting third baseman and decide on some bench roles. It’s a strong sign of progress, and a credit to Cleveland’s front office, that the Indians don’t have a long list of issues to address this spring — Acta’s third.
“We have some talent here,” Acta said. “Our focus is to win. When you are in a rebuilding process, you can see it from year to year. We’re talented. It’s not a fluke when you spend as long as we did in first place.”