Just In From the Desert

Just when I everyone thought that the 5th starter race was tied up with a nice pretty bow, the Tribe went and played a night game.  According to Adam Sandler "the night time is the right time."  Well, that sure was true for David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez in Arizona.  Each pitcher had produced some noticeably shoddy work over the course of spring training, but the exact opposite was true against the Giants tonight.  Huff (5.82 ERA) started with 3 and 2/3 hitless and shut out San Fran (3 H, 1 BB, 2 K) over five innings.  Gomez (5.50) relieved and threw 4 quality innings allowing just a solo home run (3 H, 1 BB) while striking out six.  Manny Acta has been clear that he will name the #5 this week.  It will be interesting to see if he holds to it and hands the job to Josh Tomlin (1.13) or if he vacillates until Tomlin gets another start.  IPI noted yesterday that 13 of Tomlin's 21 spring innings have been in minor league games while Huff and Gomez have pitched exclusively for the major league team.  The relevance of this, or lack thereof, should become obvious tomorrow.

Carlos Santana (.286) hit in the leadoff spot for the second time today, but, please, don't get any ideas.  The rationale is to get Santana more at bats early in a few spring games to ensure that he gets his timing down after knee surgery.  Carlos is locked into the cleanup spot for the long haul.

Backup Backstop:  Written off for dead, Luke Carlin (.158) has risen from the ashes.  Carlin stroked two hits, including solo homer, today.  Acta reiterated that the #2 catcher position will not be determined until the last possible moment, so Luke will likely get a few more opportunities to showcase his skills.

Utility IF Battle:  Adam Everett (.324) singled and scored while playing both middle infield positions, but his apparent infeasibility at third makes him a long shot.  Jayson Nix (.167) singled and walked in three trips, but he, too, is no third baseman and has struggled with the bat.  Cord Phelps (.227) was 0-for-1 and is running out of opportunities to steal the job.  The front runner is still Luis Valbuena (.238).

Lucky 13:  Yeah, Chad Huffman (.361) does not have a great chance to break camp with the team, though he sure is doing his best to make the decision difficult.  Huffman smacked his 5th double and third dinger of the spring while driving in four to bring his tally to 11.  If Chad does indeed get cut, he will be at the top of the list should a bat be needed from AAA.  Shelley Duncan (.270) struck out in his only AB, but remains my favorite for the final bench spot.

Who's Hot:  It pains me to say so, but Jack Hannahan (ugh) was 3-for-4 with a run scored and is batting a crisp .386.

Who's Not:  Twitter's own Gator4God (Matt LaPorta) was 0-for-3 with a K and is down to .163.  At this point, I am concerned.

Mitch Talbot gets the nod on 03.25.

I feel as if I haven't really said much in this piece, so I will say this - Manny Acta has repeatedly stated that the only concern in his roster evaluation.  If the Tribe breaks camp with Nix on the roster, then Acta's word is worthless.  The only rational explanation for carrying what can only be called as a "second second baseman" is that he is out of options and Luis Valbuena is not.  Folks, I know it's a business, but call a spade a spade.  If it is a business call then just be forthright and transparent.  We certainly pay enough for it.

Cheers.