CLEVELAND – When the Indians optioned Adam Plutko back to Triple-A at the end of Spring Training, they knew he’d be the first call if the team would need another starter. But when Mike Clevinger landed on the 60-day injured list with an upper back strain on April 8, Plutko was unavailable in Goodyear, Ariz., working his way back from a right forearm strain.

“The frustration was more that Clev went out than it was that I might’ve been the next guy up,” Plutko said. “I mean, how he looked to start the year, I texted him and said, ‘Man, you looked like a Cy Young when you started the year.' So the frustration was less about me not being ready and more about him being down, I think, and more about [Corey] Kluber being down for me, from my perspective.”

Plutko took a month to rehab his arm in Arizona before joining the Clippers on May 7, missing the first 30 games of the season.

“Honestly, it was less frustrating than it was let’s just get it right,” Plutko said. “Let’s not deal with this for six months, seven months out of the year. Let’s take a month, let’s make sure everything’s feeling good. That way, I don’t have to deal with it for the next, you know, five [months] to go from there.”

In his first start back, Plutko allowed five runs on two hits through just one-third of an inning against the Charlotte Knights.

“Yeah, I was facing 16-year-olds that swung at balls above their eyeballs [in extended Spring Training], and then now it was real disciplined hitters,” Plutko said. “So that’s kind of what you saw in the first one was real disciplined hitters, and then it was like on my side, 'OK, I’ve got to reign in back in and execute pitches a little bit better.'”

He turned things around in his last outing, giving up just one run -- a solo homer -- on two hits through five innings. Because of the talent level that he faced in his two Minor League starts, Plutko feels ready to be back at the big-league level.

“I mean, both of those rosters were better than your normal Triple-A lineups that I faced,” Plutko said. “The Syracuse lineups had 100 years of Major League service on it with the likes of Carlos Gomez, Rajai Davis … and then the other team had Daniel Palka, who had like 30 home runs with the White Sox last year, and Alcides Escobar, Adam Engel, so guys who have played a lot.

“So it was nice almost to transition into kind of a Four-A lineup, if you will, rather than just your Triple-A lineup.”

After the 27-year-old was pulled in the fifth with 67 pitches, he went on to throw more in the bullpen and was able to get up to 93 before leaving the ballpark. Indians manager Terry Francona doesn’t think that his pitch count will restrict him in Saturday’s start against the Orioles.

“Well, I don’t think you’re going to see him throw 120,” Francona said. “He threw, I think it was five innings, and then he went out and threw another 20 in the bullpen. It should be deep enough where that doesn’t really enter into the outcome.”

Lindor OK after brief ankle scare

In Thursday’s 14-7 victory against the Orioles, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor broke to cover second when the runner on first appeared as if he was going to steal. When he got to the bag, he stumbled down to his knees and stayed there for a moment. When Lindor got back up, he was slightly favoring his right ankle -- the opposite of the one that sidelined him for a few weeks to start the year -- but Francona said he came in better on Friday.

“He’s good today,” Francona said. “He kinda rolled his other ankle towards second base. He was just kind of wandering in, I wouldn’t even say he was running, but no, he’s OK.”

This date in Indians history

1925: Tris Speaker singled in the ninth inning off Washington’s Tom Zachary for his 3,000th hit, becoming just the sixth player to reach the milestone at the time. Speaker finished his 22-year career with 3,514 hits, which is currently the fifth-most in Major League history.