GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians have named their starting pitcher for their Cactus League opener, but it won’t be one of the five expected to be in the Tribe’s regular-season rotation.

Indians manager Terry Francona said on Wednesday that Adam Plutko will get the ball for Cleveland on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. MT against Cincinnati. Plutko appeared in 17 games in 2018, including 12 starts. He went 4-5 with a 5.28 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 76 2/3 innings and recorded one save.

The Indians starting rotation for the regular season will consist of Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber, given that they all have healthy springs. Although games start on Saturday, Francona is not in any rush to get Kluber, Carrasco and Clevinger on the mound.

”Until they’re to that 50-pitch mark, they’ll do sim games on the back fields,” Francona said. “That’s just to control the intensity of their outings as they progress. Once they get to 50, then that’s when they’ll start pitching in real games.”

Kluber, 32, led the American League in innings pitched last season, with 215. He recorded a 2.89 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in 33 starts and struck out 222. The only pitcher on the staff with more strikeouts was Carrasco (231), who logged a 3.38 ERA in 192 innings. Clevinger, 28, is coming off a season in which worked a career-high 200 innings, including a complete game shutout.

While the plan is to keep Kluber, Carrasco and Clevinger out of games at the start of the Spring Training schedule, Bauer and Bieber will both be used on a regular basis.

”We just felt Trevor would prefer to pitch in real games and Bieber’s never been through a Major League Spring Training, so that’s the reasoning behind it,” Francona said.

Bauer, 28, had a career year in ’18, posting a 2.21 ERA in 28 appearances (27 starts). He recorded 221 strikeouts in 175 1/3 innings, while Bieber got his first taste of the Majors last year, going 11-5 with a 4.55 ERA in 114 2/3 fames.

Otero sore, but OK

Reliever Dan Otero has been off on his own, doing separate workouts the last few days at camp due to a sore calf muscle. However, the Tribe is planning to have him pitch in Monday’s game against Texas, which is a promising sign for Cleveland.

”Before we even started, he felt his calf,” Francona said. “To his credit, he kind of came in pretty quick. He’s been throwing his sides. I think he’s scheduled to pitch Monday, so he’s fine. We just haven’t had him running around in the PFPs. He’s one of our better guys anyway.”

Sources say

According to MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman, the Indians signed RHP Tyler Clippard to a Minor League contract. The club has not confirmed the report.

Clippard went 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA in 73 appearances (68 2/3 innings) and averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings for the Blue Jays last season. The 34-year-old is entering his 13th big league season and has played for eight different teams. He was selected to the National League All-Star team in 2011 and ’14, representing the Washington Nationals.