Hitch Or Two No Problem For Indians 18 Players On Hand As Camp Opens On Picture-Perfect Day Minicamp

They were without catchers and pants to fit Ken Harvey.

But the Spokane Indians had plenty of blue sky Saturday night for the opening of their six-day minicamp.

Eighteen of the 25 players on the current Indians roster were in attendance during the pleasant evening, but none of the three catchers. Infielder Liam Healy served as a fill-in backstop.

Catchers Casey Dunn, Brian Johnson and James McAuley are all expected in town by today.

McAuley, a seventh-round selection in this year’s amateur draft from the University of Louisville, was just added to the roster. The other addition was left-hander Edwin Franco, an 11th-rounder who played with Indians right-hander Raul Garcia at Florida International University.

Franco missed the first day of camp, as did pitchers Jason Gilfillan and Mike Russo, and outfielder Felipe Alou Jr. Gilfillan, Russo and Alou aren’t due from Charleston (W.Va.) until Tuesday.

A handful of players arrived in town from Florida about 2 p.m., 3 hours before the camp began.

Harvey was even later, with a 4 p.m. arrival that deposited him at Seafirst Stadium just before players took to the well-manicured field.

The Indians couldn’t find a pair of pants to properly fit Harvey, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound first baseman. So the Nebraska product, who led the NCAA with a .478 batting average this year, used a pair he had packed away.

Harvey is fighting a strained ligament in one knee, an injury he played through during his season with the Cornhuskers.

Projected closer Jay Gehrke, the 32nd player selected in the draft, marveled at the facilities. Gehrke pitched for Pepperdine but hadn’t seen Seafirst during the Waves’ West Coast Conference games at Gonzaga.

Manager Kevin Long, pitching coach Randy Smith and hitting coach Joe Szekely ran the players through drills. Mike Jirschele, the Kansas City Royals’ minor league coordinator of instruction and infield, was also in attendance to offer pointers.

“Some of the players may be trying to impress a bit too much, but the more we see them, the more we’ll be able to make decisions on them,” Long said.

The first batting practice wasn’t a power-packed display. Third baseman G.J. Raymundo from Pepperdine hit an early pitch out of the park, but the team appeared to have more line-drive hitters than big boppers.

“On paper, it seems like pitching is going to be what wins our games,” Long said. “It doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot of power, but that’s OK.”

Lewiston native Ryan Baerlocher, a sixth-round selection out of NAIA champion Lewis-Clark State, joked with well-wishers as he fed baseballs into a pitching machine for batters practicing their bunts.

New wood bats from Brett Bros. Bat Co. made their debut during hitting practice. Indians principal owner Bobby Brett and his three brothers just bought half-ownership in the company.

Brett left minicamp before batting practice, so he’ll need a report on the first-day tally. Five or six of the bats reportedly broke.

Camp runs through Thursday.