Tribe tale of two guys named Carlos -- a good day for Santana, a long afternoon for Carrasco: Scribbles in Terry Pluto's Cleveland Indians notebook

Terry Pluto scribbles about the Tribe and the Tale of Two Guys Named Carlos: a good day for Santana, a long afternoon for Carrasco.

View full sizeChuck Crow l The Plain DealerCarlos Santana is showing that he's recovered from last year's knee injury.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Scribbles in my notebook as the Tribe defeated Kansas City, 8-7.

1. You'd never guess that Carlos Santana had knee surgery last year. He ripped a triple, complete with a head-first slide into third base. He also had a single and stole third base with another head-first slide. Santana was 2-of-3 with a walk. In his past two games, he has four hits and has raised his spring average to .308.

2. Santana caught nine innings Tuesday. He played first base for seven innings Wednesday. His knee seems sound. He also looks very comfortable at first, a position he never played before this spring. He will be the team's cleanup hitter.

3. Then there was Carlos Carrasco, who allowed only one run in his first four innings. Threw hard, looked good. Then came the fifth, when he pitched for the cycle. Yes, that means giving up a single, double, triple and homer. All in one-third of an inning. And he gave up five runs in that one-third of an inning. In his past two starts, Carrasco has allowed 16 hits and 12 earned runs in 101/3 innings.

4. Manager Manny Acta insisted he's not worried about Carrasco: "He hit a wall in that last inning. . . . His pitches were up in the zone. . . . He had a couple of good [games] early in camp. He's in great shape."

5. Acta didn't say it, but Carrasco's confidence can be a bit shaky, and the Indians want him to know they have faith in him. Carrasco turned 24 on Monday. The Indians look back to 2010, when he came up at the end of the season and was 2-2 with a 3.83 ERA in seven starts. He pitched at least six innings in all seven starts.

View full sizeAPMichael Brantley

6. Carrasco had a 2.08 ERA in his last 10 Class AAA starts -- and has pitched 363 innings in Class AAA. They see no reason to send him back to the minors. It's time for him to prove he can be a major-league starter.

7. Michael Brantley crushed a 400-foot triple to center. It's great to see him hit for some power, which was missing in his first 100 games (13 doubles, three triples, three homers) with the Tribe. He also made a great running catch against the center-field wall. He was 2-for-4.

8. Shin-Soo Choo hammered a 400-foot double off the wall and was 3-of-4. He is hitting .311 and "looks like he's locked in as if it's midseason," said Acta.

9. After Santana stole third, Acta said Choo said: "We've got a 5-tool catcher." That means a player who can do everything: run, throw, hit, hit for power and play defense.

10. Raffy Perez (1.93 ERA) and Tony Sipp (1.04 ERA) each threw a scoreless inning and are having excellent springs.

11. Lou Marson continues to struggle at the plate, hitting only .160. He was 0-of-3 Wednesday, and he also was 0-of-4 in Tuesday's minor-league game when he caught Josh Tomlin. He could open the season in the minors as the Tribe may want him to play every day.

12. The Indians have won five in a row. Acta said he told the players on Monday that he wanted them to approach games as if this were the regular season: "I can't just hit the switch on the first [April 1, Opening Day]. We need to go full blast."

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2011/03/tribe_tale_of_two_guys_named_c.html

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