--RHP Adam Miller, who has been struggling with inflammation in the middle finger of his right hand, has less than two weeks to see if he can avoid surgery. If Miller is unable to pitch without pitch, he would need surgery that would cost him at least a season and possibly would end his career, Cleveland trainer Lonnie Soloff said.
--DH Travis Hafner was 3-for-10 with a double, no home runs and two RBIs in his first four spring training games, as he began to test his surgically repaired right shoulder. Hafner had surgery last October to clean out the shoulder joint. The 31-year-old designated hitter has also started to play in back-to-back games, which was another milepost in his return to the lineup. --RHP Kerry Wood, who was held out of the early spring training games because of some soreness in his back, made his spring debut against the Angels on March 10. He pitched a perfect inning and retired all three batters. "Everything felt good," said Wood, who signed a two-year, $20.5 million contract to be the Indians' closer.
--LHP Cliff Lee, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, had a bumpy first two outings in spring training, but nobody, including Lee, was concerned. In his first two spring starts Lee had an 11.25 ERA, having allowed five earned runs on eight hits in four innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
--OF Shin-Soo Choo has been examined and cleared by Indians doctors to continue playing for Korea in the World Baseball Classic. Choo was held out of some early games because of a sore left (throwing) elbow that had Indians concerned given that Choo is less than two years removed from ligament transplant surgery in the elbow. Indians doctors had a chance to examine Choo when the Korean team came to Arizona to train.
"We brought him in and did a full exam and everything went well," general manager Mark Shapiro said. "Obviously, it was an uneasy feeling for us with him being in a different continent and not feeling 100 percent. But he's doing fine."
Choo has been initially cleared by Indians doctors to be the designated hitter but not play the outfield in the WBC.
--1B Sean Casey will spend a week in the Indians' training camp working as a guest instructor with the team's hitters and first basemen. Casey was a second-round draft pick by the Indians in 1995 and spent three seasons with the Indians before being traded to Cincinnati. Casey, who played last year with Boston, has since retired and has made some appearances as a studio analyst with the MLB TV Network.
BY THE NUMBERS: 496 -- Career wins by Eric Wedge as manager of the Indians. That ranks fifth on the club's all-time list, 75 wins behind Al Lopez who is fourth.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Catch what they can catch and hit the cutoff man." -- Manager Eric Wedge, on his modest expectations for INF Josh Barfield and 1B Ryan Garko, who are both seeing some action in the outfield during spring training.
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