It’s that time again.
Pitchers and catchers report to their respective spring complex in either the coast of Florida or the greater Phoenix area under the Arizona sun.
For the Cleveland Indians this feeling is bittersweet.
Yes, they get to start getting back into the swing of things, but they have to share the place with the Cincinnati Reds.
Arizona is home to two proud college baseball programs, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University have a combined eight national championships and a plethora of professional ball players. So it only makes sense to see some of the Indians players show up at college practice for a little BP and some time to chat with their old coach and give the current players some pointers.
Cleveland’s crowed outfield includes three former Arizona Wildcats, Shelly Duncan, Trevor Crowe and Jordan Brown, all competing for a roster spot.
Trevor Crowe has the best future of the three, having already shown the Cleveland brass how good of a baserunner he is after stealing 20 bases in 2010.
Shelly Duncan has the most experience, being in the majors for four years. He has shown that he has some pop in him after hitting a career-high 11 home runs as a reserve outfielder for the Indians in 2010.
That leaves Jordan Brown, who has had less playing time to work with among the three. In only 26 games, Brown has managed to record only 20 hits, leaving him with a .230 batting average in 2010.
Still, Brown is confident in his abilities and knows that spring training is not about him going up against Duncan and Crowe—or even veteran Austin Kearns, whom the Indians waived Brown for to make room on the 40-man roster—but what he does in Goodyear that translates to an Opening Day roster spot.
“You go in and compete against yourself and good things will happen,” Brown said on Monday when talking about position battles. “You can’t think that way because it makes it tough, they have a bad AB or a good AB it doesn’t change anything that I’ve done.”
Guys like Brown and Crowe are part of a youth movement that has started around mid 2008 when the Indians started trading stars like C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez for prospects.
“I think the best thing is that there are a lot of good young players that are scratching the surface and finally getting their first exposure at the big leagues. There’s a lot of ability there, whether or not they are able to harness that ability is another question. There is definitely help on the way,” Brown said, adding that fans of the Tribe should keep an eye on their young catcher. “I think a guy to keep your eye on just simply because he is such a hard worker is Carlos Santana.”
Spring training this year should be very interesting for the young Tribe.
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