Notes: Bieber is OD starter; injury updates

CLEVELAND -- What has been assumed about the top three starters in the Indians' rotation over the past two weeks is now official.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona confirmed on Thursday that Shane Bieber will start on Opening Day, with Mike Clevinger slated for Game 2 and Carlos Carrasco on the mound for Game 3. The Indians have been following this order in their rotation during intrasquad scrimmages at Summer Camp.

“Unless something happens, you have to get them set up, and you don’t want to start moving guys around,” Francona said, “because you’re trying to get them on their day and get them used to pitching every fifth day. So, yeah, they’ll stay on that day.”

The top three of the rotation is now set in stone, but the rest is still being pieced together. If the Indians decide to utilize a five-man rotation at the start of the season, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Adam Plutko are left to battle for the final two vacancies. However, a six-man rotation isn’t off the table.

“We’re sorting through that,” Francona said. “We have some alternatives. Do we go with six out of the gate? Do we go with five and put one guy in the bullpen? There are some things -- we’re certainly mulling over what we think puts us in the best position.”

The Indians have been using Civale in the No. 4 spot throughout instrasquad scrimmages, with Plutko and Plesac pitching against each other every fifth day. If Civale has a slight lead in the starters' race, that would leave Plutko and Plesac to fight for the fifth spot if Cleveland chooses to stick with a five-man rotation.

Rodriguez experiencing back pain
Jefry Rodriguez hasn’t seen much action in camp due to a lower back injury that he sustained when he went home from Spring Training. Now that he’s back with the team, he’s been receiving regular treatment and has recently progressed to throwing bullpens.

“He didn’t have the ability to go anywhere and get treatment,” Francona said. “So when he came back with us, they started to get him on an exercise and treatment program, and he’s actually doing really well, to the point where he threw a bullpen a couple days ago and he had another one today. He’s doing OK.”

When healthy, Rodriguez could be an option for the Indians out of the bullpen. Last year, he made eight starts for Cleveland before he sustained a right shoulder injury that shut him down. When he returned to the big league roster, he made two appearances out of the bullpen.

Luplow feeling better
Jordan Luplow has made just one intrasquad appearance so far, as the designated hitter in Friday night’s scrimmage, but he has been battling back pain since he reported to Progressive Field at the beginning of the month. The Indians sent him for an MRI on Monday, and it did not reveal any major injury. He was expected to miss another three to five days after undergoing the testing, but he said that his back is improving.

“I’m glad to hear that, but it’s also without being in a game,” Francona said. “So I think what you try to do is use good judgment, give him three to five days as opposed to saying, ‘OK, he feels better, let’s play him,’ and he goes right back to where he was. So we’re trying to use good judgment there. That’s not always the easiest thing to do. We’re talking about ramping guys up, and he’s champing at the bit, but we’re trying to do this right.”