Indians invite OF Ryan Spilborghs and INF Gregorio Petit to Major League camp

CLEVELAND, OH -  The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed free agent OF RYAN SPILBORGHS and INF GREGORIO PETIT to Minor League contracts with non-roster invitations to Major League spring training camp.

Spilborghs, 32, owns a career Major League batting average of .272 (424-1561) with 86 2B, 12 3B, 42 HR and 218 RBI in 619 games over seven big league seasons with the Colorado Rockies. The versatile outfielder (career position breakdown: LF- 187G, CF- 122G, RF- 186G) was the Rockies seventh round selection of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft out of UC Santa-Barbara.  Spilborghs, who is a right-handed hitter, has similar splits against both right-handed and left-handed pitchers (.273 vs. LHP; .271 vs. RHP) and is a career .305 (53-174) pinch-hitter.

His 2011 season was cut short due plantar fasciitis in his right foot in early August, which limited him to 98 games.  He batted .210 (42-200) with 8 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR and 22 RBI, appearing in all three outfield positions once again last season (LF- 29G, RF- 29G, CF- 13G).

Petit (pe-TEET), 26, played professionally for nine seasons from 2002-10 before missing last season with a knee injury suffered last December in the Venezuelan Winter League.  He was a member of the A's organization from 2002-09, appearing in 25 games at the big league level with Oakland in 2008 and 2009.  He spent the entire 2010 campaign at Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Rangers organization and hit .251 (118-471) with 20 2B, 7HR & 53 RBI in 130 games at shortstop. In his Minor League career he has hit at a .266 (808-3034) clip with 139 2B, 22 3B, 41HR & 343 RBI in 827 games.  He played for Caracas in Venezuela in the 2011 winter ball season where in 30 games he hit .189 (18-95) with 6 2B, 0HR & 11 RBI.