Corey Kluber bounces back in second start of spring training

Here’s to a great week ahead!

Indians 11, Padres 3

Recap (Indians.com) | Box Score

The Tribe bashed four home runs and Corey Kluber struck out four over four-plus innings. Ronny Rodriguez, Francisco Mejia, Willy Mo Pena (!), and Eric Stamets all went deep for the Indians, while Lonnie Chisenhall was 3-for-3 at the plate.

Tribe News

Kluber happy with progress made in 2nd start | Indians.com

On his way to being ready for Opening Day.

Jason Kipnis to miss season opener because of sore right shoulder | Cleveland.com

Manager Terry Francona said second baseman Jason Kipnis will miss the season opener April 3 against Texas because of strained right rotator cuff. This is bad news, but the Indians don’t sound extremely concerned long-term. Hmmmmmm. From Paul Hoynes:

Kipnis was scheduled to DH Sunday against San Diego, but Francona said the team's medical staff decided to shut down Kipnis for two weeks. The shut down means he'll almost certainly open the year on the disabled list.

"He could certainly DH today," said Francona. "He could actually go play second, but because there are times when he's still feeling this thing (shoulder), the medical people and Kipnis have met and the determination was that we're going to keep him down for a couple of weeks.

"What they do in the next couple of weeks is to be determined. We had a pretty lengthy conversation because he is getting better. Nothing has gone haywire, nothing has gone wrong. But it's such a long season, by taking this approach, we want to make sure they knock it out and not get it at 90 or 85 percent. That's why we're doing this."

Indians option three, including Perci Garner, in first cut of spring training | Indians.com

Garner had issues with his control this spring, walking five in just 3 ²⁄₃ innings. He’s a name to remember though, with swing-and-miss stuff.

Around the League

• Team USA overwhelms Canada to advance in WBC.
• Ian Desmond suffers fractured hand in spring training action Sunday. That’s a big loss for the Rockies, who some predicted could be a break-out team this season.
• The Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka has been dominant this spring.