Smoke signals

• Indians players have been sporting shirts that say "Awesome Amazingness" across the chest for the past couple of days. The phrase stems from a quote that first baseman Nick Swisher gave during an interview with a television reporter during Spring Training. Asked to define the saying, Francona laughed.

"That's Swish's personality," said Francona. "I mean, if you need a little pick-me-up, just go spend five minutes with him and you'll feel like you're good to go."

• Cleveland's Opening Day roster this season looks much different than it did one year ago. There are 14 new members on the Opening Day roster -- including 11 offseason acquisitions -- compared to the group that began the 2012 season with the Tribe.

• The Indians will play their first six games of this season on artificial turf between the back-to-back three-game road sets against the Blue Jays and Rays. Cleveland will play the rest of the season (156 games) in natural-grass stadiums.