NEOSI Indians Spring Training Roundup: March 14

GOODYEAR, Ariz.– The Indians took on the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday and came away with a 7-0 victory.

Corey Kluber got the win on the mound. In five innings of work, the Indians ace struck out four and gave up just one hit. After a homer from Tyler Naquin and an RBI single from Edwin Encarnacion, Brandon Barnes opened the game up with a three-run homer in the eighth inning.

**Read the recap from today’s game by Paul Hoynes over at cleveland.com.

**Curious to see what the Tribe’s opening day roster might look like? Jordan Bastian has you covered. The biggest news in this is that right now, Bastian is projecting Brantley to be ready for Opening Day, along with Bradley Zimmer and Lonnie Chisenhall:

“Take this prediction with a grain of salt. If the Indians feel that Brantley’s rehab schedule should go into April, the team will not hesitate to take that approach. So far, though, there have been no setbacks in his comeback. Brantley has been unrestricted with his hitting and has advanced to baserunning and outfield work.”

**Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Tribe in the division is the Minnesota Twins. Alex Hooper of 92.3 The Fan wrote about all of their offseason moves, and how some of what they’re doing seems to mirror the Indians.

**If you’re looking for a story that tugs at the heartstrings with a “Hey dad, do you wanna have a catch?” vibe, Zack Meisel has you covered over at The Athletic. If you recall, in August of 2016 Josh Tomlin’s dad underwent emergency surgery because of a tangling of blood vessels on his spinal cord. The surgery left him paralyzed from the chest down, but he hasn’t yet given up the hope of walking:

“It doesn’t matter what they tell him,” Josh Tomlin said of his dad. “He’s like, ‘I’ll find a way to walk again. I’m not gonna win a race anymore, but I’ll find a way to walk again.’ ”

**And for a bit of fun: If you’re a fan of the team you likely know about Mustard’s (you know, the the one that does the hot dog race at Progressive Field) beef (yeah, pun intended) with STO’s Andre Knott. Check out Mustard’s March Madness bracket below:

In preparation for tomorrow's tournament let's see who you got in Mustard's March Madness Bracket! — Mustard ??

*Hint, it's a no brainer* pic.twitter.com/ZwhXL83drp

— Tribe Hot Dogs (@TribeHotDogs) March 15, 2018