Barnes optioned, but shows promise in camp

Left-hander had freak injury in '11, lauded by Acta for spring effort

GOODYEAR, Ariz. --

It was a routine play, one practiced over and over to the point of being ingrained in a pitcher's muscle memory. A batter squares to bunt, chops the baseball down the third-base line and the pitcher runs off the mound in pursuit.

There was no routine result for Indians Minor League lefty Scott Barnes last summer, though. While the stars appeared to be aligning for a trip up to The Show, Barnes' left knee had other plans.

On July 10 in a Triple-A game for Columbus, Barnes headed off the hill to field a sixth-inning bunt, and his journey to the big leagues was promptly put on hold.

The Indians optioned a handful of players to the Minor Leagues on Thursday, doing some necessary roster trimming as the midpoint of the spring schedule draws near. As expected, Barnes was sent back to Columbus, so he stuffed his belongings in a Cleveland equipment bag and relocated to the Minor League clubhouse down the hall.

Barnes -- back at full strength after needing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee last season -- was grateful for his time in camp with the Major League club.

Indians begin process of trimming roster

GOODYEAR, Ariz. --

As the Indians approach the midpoint of the Spring Training schedule, the time has come to start trimming the roster.

On Thursday, Cleveland reduced its spring volume by four players, optioning pitchers Scott Barnes and Danny Salazar, as well as outfielders Thomas Neal and Nick Weglarz, to the Minor Leagues. Barnes, Neal and Weglarz were sent to Triple-A Columbus, while Salazar was placed on Class A Carolina's roster.

After re-acquiring left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz, the Indians now have 56 players in camp with the big league club.

Barnes impressed the Indians' brass this spring with seven shutout innings between three Cactus League appearances. The lefty went 8-4 with a 3.45 ERA in 18 starts for Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus last season before suffering a season-ending left knee injury. Barnes could figure into Cleveland's plans during the upcoming season.

Neal -- acquired in a trade with the Giants last July -- and Weglarz are each coming off injury-hindered campaigns. Dealing with a variety of health woes, Neal hit .289 with two home runs, 14 doubles and 26 RBIs in 70 games for Triple-A Fresno (Giants) and Columbus in 2011. Weglarz hit .179 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 41 games at Double-A Akron last year.

Salazar, who spent last season rehabbing from reconstructive surgery on his right elbow, pitched in one game this spring. He allowed six runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Smoke signals

• Indians closer Chris Perez, who has been sidelined for the past three weeks with a strained left oblique, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday. The Tribe remains hopeful that Perez will be ready in time for Opening Day.

• Indians manager Manny Acta noted that first baseman Casey Kotchman (tightness in his lower back) was able to hit in a soft-toss session during Thursday's workout. Kotchman remains day to day, though it is unclear when he will be cleared to resume playing in games.

• Indians relievers Rafael Perez (sore left shoulder) and Robinson Tejeda (right calf strain) continue to make progress in their respective throwing programs. Both pitchers threw for seven minutes in live batting practice on Thursday, and both are nearing a return to game action.

• The Indians announced on Thursday that their Opening Day game against the Blue Jays on April 5 is sold out. Cleveland has now enjoyed 20 consecutive sellouts for its home openers. This season marks the 112th in the American League for the Tribe.

Tribe putting some serious points on the board vs the Chisox. Duncan with his third homer, a 2-run shot and Jose Lopez continues to impress with his second homer this spring, a 3-run shot in his only at bat after replacing Duncan at first.

Indians have 15 hits on the day and lead it 12-3 in 8th

Jose gave it a ride in his second trip to the plate but only got a double this time. Great spring for Lopez. Heck! I have him pegged for a bench spot but the way he's hitting right now might want to consider him for a starter's role.

Jose picking up from where he left off this past winter.

First set of stats were his regular season numbers

The second set of stats were his round robin numbers.

He did not play in the championship series round.

Entering today's ballgame, LaRoche was leading the way in batting with Lopez a close second. Things will change with tomorrow's numbers. LaRoche did not play today.

Yeah. I have been a DLC fan.

My Oh My !!!!

The big bats finally showed up. Lots of hits to fatten those weak ST stats.

Duncan and Lopez go deep. Gonna need more of the long ball to score runs this year.

Canzler looks like a steal.

Masterson was lights out.

56 still in camp. Too many. Need some more cuts.

eocmcdoc wrote:You duffers will love this. My son's house is right on the edge of the Golf Course in Fort Smith, Ar. It is like less that 50ft from the back door. My son (16 in May) & my grandson (12) go out a gather up golf balls then go up to the club house & sell them back to the golfers. Can not believe it but they average about $2.50 per ball.

With my first wife in South Carolina I stumbled upon a little residential golf course with a lot on the 18th green still available several years after the development got up and running. The development company considered it "scrap" because it only had 18 feet actually on the golf course.

I walked the property and looked through the trees and growth and said to myself, "damn, we might only own 18 feet on the course, but we can see the whole darned 18th," so I bought the lot for cheap. Cheap.

My first wife picked out a spec home she liked and I worked with the builder to modify the plans to meet my first wife's wishes.

I'll mention that I pointed out to our guests years later our view from the dining room that I paid the builder $800....not to build....a wall.

I added the idea of a basement, since the lot had some slope.

True story, while under construction people walked to the site just to see "the Yankee that was building a basement." Not many basements in good old South Carolina. I talked to the builder and negotiated and ended up with a poured basement with a full exposure on the golf course side of the lot for an extra $5,000. I paid a few hundred more to have it fully plumbed.

I finished it off with the help of a much more handy friend than me, gave it it's own AC/Heat unit, installed the full bath, and ended up with essentially a three story construction on a golf course.

Back on point, I was on Zillow today for entirely different reasons. Out of curiosity I checked that house that I had had built and realized my former wife sold it for a 50% profit on our cost after 12 years.

Guess she knew what she was doing by getting me to pay for not building that wall.

Back on point, one guy in the neighborhood touted me on Bermuda grass for the finished lot, when I usually would have gone with St. Augustine.

That Bermuda grass paid off.

We were at about the 160 yard marker on a 225 yard hole and errant drives landed regularly in our back yard. Even golfers who decided to venture onto my property had a hard time finding their ball in the deep Bermuda and just left and played on.

Could be my wife's Shih Tzu scared them off. She was very territorial and angry when someone she did not know strolled into our yard.

I really didn't make any money off those balls, though I truly had laundry baskets full of golf balls I had retrieved from my lawn, or a walk on the course in the early morning with the dog.


I let the guy friend's of my oldest daughters in the first marriage have them for free.

Guys who golf are normally OK guys for your daughters to date, I think.

Unless maybe your daughter is from Sweden, perhaps.

Slowey allows two early homers in loss to Halos
By Joey Nowak / MLB.com | 03/16/12 6:57 PM ET

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Garrett Richards struck out six in four shutout innings and Albert Pujols hit his third home run in as many games as the Angels beat the Indians, 7-0, on Friday at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Richards, 23, is one of a handful of Angels pitchers in the mix for the fifth spot in the rotation. The rookie has now allowed just two earned runs in eight innings in three Cactus League starts.

"Right now, I just stick to thirds, work the ball in and out, change speeds," Richards said. "My slider was my strikeout pitch today. I threw some good changeups today. Later on, my two-seam kind of came back to me. And the four-seam, throwing the ball in to lefties and away to righties, felt good. Today, I felt like I could throw anything for a strike."


Travis Hafner finished the day 3-for-3, including an infield single, and is hitting .286 in Cactus League action.

Angels leadoff hitter Erick Aybar homered on the second pitch of the first inning from Cleveland starter Kevin Slowey, and Pujols' solo blast to left-center field came two batters later.


Slowey's final line was three earned runs on five hits in three innings, with two strikeouts and one walk.

The Angels tacked on another run in the third when Aybar singled and came around to score on an RBI single from Torii Hunter.

Angels catcher Chris Iannetta left after taking a foul ball off his throwing arm in the second inning. He has a right elbow bruise and is day to day. He was replaced by Alberto Rosario, who went 0-for-2.

Indians up next: The Indians return home to Goodyear Ballpark on Saturday for a St. Patrick's Day game against the Reds. Starter Ubaldo Jimenez will toe the slab for Cleveland at 4:05 p.m. ET. Jimenez said he was happy with his last start, in which he gave up one run on three hits in three innings and threw 57 pitches against Arizona, striking out one and walking two. Also scheduled to pitch for the Indians are Vinnie Pestano, Chris Ray, Chris Seddon, Tony Sipp and Dan Wheeler.