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Experimentation time is over as regular season fast approaches

OK, wild things. No more playing around with "Eliminators" and "Terminators." Time to just start striking these [REDACTED]s out!

By Phil Kehres
Forget about the sinker, Bryan. Give 'im the heater.
Forget about the sinker, Bryan. Give 'im the heater.
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Just two more weeks of Spring Training. Rosters are starting to solidify, starters are getting into regular season form, and someone is busy cooking up the year's supply of hot dogs at Fenway Park (and trying desperately to hide them from David Ortiz). Meanwhile, here at LGT, we're never not in midseason form. So just like every other day, we're bringing you all the best of what's going on around baseball:

Yesterday's game: Indians 4, Dodgers 2

Speaking of midseason form, Corey Kluber has seemingly shaken the rust from his power core. Klubot looked like the Cy Young we all know and love, overcoming some early struggles to shut down the class of the NL WEST. He struck out six over 5 1/3, and the Indians scratched out four runs for a solid victory.

Indians news & notes

Time for Indians pitchers to scrap test tubes and get outs | Cleveland.com - As I alluded to above, the time for shaking off rust and toying with new pitches is over. Pitching coach Mickey Callaway met with Tribe pitchers Saturday morning and informed them that the experimentation is over: it's time to get outs. Trevor Bauer's gopher ball-happy out Friday played a big role in Callaway's speech, and if Kluber's performance yesterday was any indication, the staff took his words to heart.

Shaw working out kinks on two-seamer | Indians.com - Despite the "official" end of experimentation, I guess, Bryan Shaw is still working on his sinker. That probably explains a good chunk of his sub-optimal spring stat line.

Shaw sets up strong returning Indians bullpen | Did The Tribe Win Last Night? - Continuing the Shaw thread, the Indians' bullpen workhorse is poised and ready for another strong showing in 2015.

PER and the 2015 Indians pitching staff | It's Pronounced 'Lajaway' - IPL discusses the Tribe pitching staff based on their proprietary stat called "Pitcher Efficiency Rating." For those unfamiliar with the stat, there's also a link to their five-part series introducing and explaining it.

Aguilar thanks Hafner for help: Indians Quick Hits | Cleveland.com - Some people have to make bigger impressions than others during Spring Training. Jesus Aguilar has a lot of pressure on him as one of the top right-handed power prospects in the organization, and his 0-15 last spring didn't leave the greatest impression. Thanks to the help of Travis Hafner, he's batting [SPOILERS, SPRING STATS ALERT] .407 this spring. Did Travis save Jesus?

Can case be made for Indians defense? Hey Hoynsie! | Cleveland.com - Hoynsie fields a question about the prospects for the Tribe defense this season. He predicts Gold Gloves for everyone! He also fields a question that starts with "I know the Cleveland thing to do is deify our favorite athletes after a year or two of even moderate success..." and somehow manages to give a reasonable response to it.

Francona heaps praise on Sands | Indians.com - Tito says some things about somebody named Jerry Sands.

Tidbits from around MLB

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