Belisle Makes Roster As Final Piece to Bullpen by Jordan Bastian MLB.Com @Mlbastian GOODYEAR, Ariz
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Belisle makes roster as final piece to bullpen By Jordan Bastian MLB.com @MLBastian GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians' decision about the final bullpen spot was never going to be about pitching lines logged in Cactus League games. The team was going to weigh which pitcher was the best fit for a relief puzzle that was already mostly assembled and seek information on what they would add away from the field. In evaluating Matt Belisle, Cleveland leaned on former Tribe executive Derek Falvey, who is now the executive vice president and chief baseball officer for the Twins and had the right-hander last season. While looking beyond the spring innings turned in by Carlos Torres, the Indians sought more intel from former front office member David Stearns, who is the general manager of the Brewers (the reliever's former team). With all the information in hand, the Indians decided that Belisle was the man for the job. "Obviously, these are difficult decisions to make," Indians manager Terry Francona said on Saturday. "And I don't think we would've made a wrong decision adding either guy. I don't think it's so much that somebody didn't do something. I just think, in the end, you look at Belisle's track record and the way he carries himself. I mean, there's more than just the innings he pitches. He's such a leader-type guy. "And as hard as it was to talk to Torres, on the flip side, that's how good it feels to talk to Belisle. So, there's certainly a lot of mixed emotions this morning." Belisle will begin this season in the Indians' Opening Day bullpen, which will also include Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Dan Otero, Zach McAllister, Tyler Olson and Nick Goody. Francona thought about going with an eight-man relief corps, but decided it did not make sense given the makeup of other aspects of the roster. Torres -- in camp as a non-roster invitee, along with Belisle -- exercised the opt-out clause in his contract and was granted his release. Now, Francona can begin thinking about how to best utilize his new-look bullpen, which no longer has setup man Bryan Shaw. During the past five years, Shaw was a lock for at least 70 appearances and roughly 70 innings out of the 'pen for Francona. That durability, however, netted the veteran right-hander a three-year contract with the Rockies via free agency over the winter. Without Shaw in the fold, Francona will do more mixing and matching. Allen and Miller will handle the bulk of the high-leverage situations in late innings, but any of the other relievers could be called upon to bridge the gap. Goody and McAllister are especially tough on righties. Olson can be featured against lefties. Otero is one of the league's top relief groundball artists. Any one of them could log multi-inning outings, if needed. The 37-year-old Belisle had a 4.03 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 22 walks in 60 1/3 innings last season for the Twins, but he turned things up a notch down the stretch. Over the final three months, Belisle had a 1.50 ERA in 30 innings. "Bryan will be missed for a lot of reasons," Miller said. "I feel like we've been saying that all spring, but as far as how it will affect the bullpen, I think there's no reason why we can't take another step forward." Last season, the Indians' bullpen led the Majors with a 2.89 ERA and was near or at the top of the American League in a variety of other categories. Cleveland's relief corps was first in the AL in Fielding Independent Pitching (3.20), WHIP (1.14) and strikeout-minus-walk percentage (20.0), ranked second in WAR (8.6, per Fangraphs), left-on-base percentage (78.7) and walks per nine innings (2.7), and third in strikeouts per nine innings (10.1). The Indians' bullpen also paced the AL with a 64 ERA-, indicating that the group was 36 percent better than league average. That mark is tied (with the 1995 Indians' bullpen, no less) for the third-lowest single-season ERA- by a relief corps in the AL in the past 100 seasons. During a meeting with his pitchers on Friday, Francona said he emphasized to the group that it deserves to be considered among baseball's best staffs. "I reminded them that we think that that's where they belong in those conversations," Francona said. "And not just past tense, but moving forward. [I reminded them] to carry yourself like that and push each other in the right direction, because they're a pretty special group." Guyer makes spring debut, in mix for OD roster By Jordan Bastian MLB.com @MLBastian SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Indians manager Terry Francona sat at the locker adjacent to the one belonging to Rob Refsnyder earlier this week, telling the outfielder to remain patient. A decision will be coming on Cleveland's outfield alignment, but there are still unsettled situations in play. The Indians are closely monitoring the respective comebacks of Brandon Guyer (left wrist surgery in October) and Michael Brantley (right ankle surgery in October), who are both pushing hard in the final week to make a bid for the Opening Day roster. Refsnyder and Tyler Naquin remain in camp and their place on the roster will be determined by the status of Guyer or Brantley, or both. View Full Game Coverage Guyer made his Cactus League debut in Saturday's 10-3 win over the Rangers, going 1-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch, while manning left field for the Tribe. He singled in his first at-bat against lefty Cole Hamels, and that is Guyer's role -- to hit left-handers. Francona said that Refsnyder, who is out of Minor League options, could fit that same profile (corner outfielder used against lefties), if Guyer is not ready for Opening Day. "I think he has the ability to be a strong kid," Francona said, "and do some damage against left-handers." Guyer said he still does not feel 100 percent, so he is not sure how realistic it will be for him to be included on the Opening Day roster. "The physical aspect is still the biggest aspect for me," Guyer said. "It feels good, but I don't know. [With] a diving catch or something like that, I don't know how that's going to be. But, to feel like it does right now, especially after having a setback a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think I'd be here. To even have a chance for it to be Opening Day, it's great." If Brantley is not deemed ready for the start of the season, Naquin would also look like a natural fit for the roster, which already projects to include outfielders Bradley Zimmer, Lonnie Chisenhall and Rajai Davis. Naquin has the ability to play all three outfield positions and was third in American League Rookie of the Year voting just two years ago. "He never backs down, boy, which we love," Francona said of Naquin. "Even [Friday] night, he gets an at-bat late and rifles a ball down the right-field line. That's always been something we've admired in his game." Kluber's final tune-up Indians ace Corey Kluber put the finishing touches on an impressive spring on Saturday, when he took on the Rangers in his final outing before facing the Mariners on Opening Day on Thursday in Seattle. Kluber allowed two runs on three hits and ended with six strikeouts against two walks in six innnigs. In five Cactus League starts this spring, Kluber turned in a 2.29 ERA with 25 strikeouts, 11 hits allowed and five walks in 19 2/3 innings. "I'm right where I need to be," Kluber said. "I went through the normal progressions this spring -- pitches, up and down, things like that. I feel like we got everything mechanically, delivery, pitch-wise where we like it to be. So, [the spring was] pretty good." Injury updates • Brantley was originally scheduled to play in a Minor League game on Saturday, but Francona said the team altered his schedule due to the left fielder having played in the night game on Friday. Brantley was slated to go through a "workout day" on Saturday with his sights set on another Cactus League game Sunday. "I think Brant looks good," Francona said. "If you watch real close, I think you can see ... the gait's not quite as smooth maybe as we've seen. But, that's only if you're really searching. I think he's done a great job. I think he's in a great place. Whether it's Opening Day or a week later, in the grand scheme of things, it's so important to get him back and get him back healthy. "And it's not that we don't value him for the first week of the season -- we do. But, I think in the grand scheme of things, looking at the bigger picture, it's really exciting." • Infielder Gio Urshela (right hamstring) is doing better and Francona said the utility man will likely return to game action before camp breaks. Urshela is still expected to open the regular season on the disabled list. Worth noting • In the sixth inning of Friday's 6-1 win over the D-backs, Zimmer put his speed on full display.