Smoke signals

• Francona said the club is still weighing whether there will be enough regular at-bats at third base to distribute between Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall. Cleveland does not want Chisenhall to play sporadically in a bench role. As for Santana's play at third, Francona has been impressed this spring.

"He's done a terrific job," Francona said of Santana, who is also Cleveland's backup catcher. "I think he looks like a third baseman. No doubt, we have decisions to make, but I think he's earned our trust."

• The Indians plan on opening the season with lineup regulars Yan Gomes and Santana as their only two catchers on the roster. That could lead to a tough situation if one or both get injured during the same game. Francona said utility man Elliot Johnson will be his primary emergency catcher.

"[Ryan] Raburn would actually do it, too," Francona said. "I asked Elliot the other day, I said, 'Just tell me you would do it.' He said, Yes.' I said, 'Good enough for me.'"

• General manager Chris Antonetti said that right-hander Josh Tomlin will not have a strict innings limit this season. Tomlin, who underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2012, is in the mix for the final spot in the rotation.

"We'll have to monitor his work load," Antonetti said. "We recognize he's coming off surgery and we want to make sure that we're cognizant of that, and monitor his volume. It's more us looking for signs of fatigue and managing his work load than any strict innings limit."

• Right-hander Danny Salazar, who projects to open this season in the rotation's fifth slot, is scheduled to log four innings in a Minor League game on Monday. Josh Outman, Marc Rzepczynski and John Axford are also slated to appear on the Minor League side.