GOODYEAR, ARIZONA -- Scribbles in my notebook as the Tribe took Tuesday off:



1. Joba Chamberlain has pitched himself into position to grab a spot in the Tribe bullpen. The former Yankees top prospect came to camp on a minor league contract. He signed with the Indians on December 1 and reported to Goodyear in January to work on getting in shape. Chamberlain gave up three runs in his second spring outing. Since then, he's pitched five times . . . five scoreless innings.



2. Manager Terry Francona on Chamberlain: "He's had an excellent camp. He came out (to Arizona) early and spent a lot of time getting in really good shape for this season. He is an unbelievably good teammate. . . it's exciting to see how he can potentially help us."



3. Chamberlain is only 30. Early in his career, he was a starting pitcher with the Yankees. He had elbow reconstruction surgery in 2011 and has pitched out of the bullpen for the last six years. He's been very inconsistent, and tended to gain weight. He was released by Detroit and Toronto last season. He ended up with Kansas City, and the Royals had no interest in signing him for 2016.



4. It seems the decline has caught his attention. The Indians and pitching coach Mickey Callaway have a reputation for helping pitchers in times of trouble. In 2013, they did that for Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir. Last spring, Jeff Manship was in camp on a minor league deal. He opened the season at Class AAA Columbus, then came to Cleveland where he had a 0.92 ERA in 39 innings as a reliever. Cleveland was Manship's fourth big league team. It's the first place where he's had success.





5. The Indians could not have asked for a better spring performance from rookie Tyler Naquin. At the start of training camp, the Indians challenged the players to give the team a reason to notice them. The rookie has done just that and is on track to start in center field once the season the opens. Naquin is hitting .400 (1.090 OPS) with two doubles and three triples.



6. The other outfielders who came to camp on one-year, big league deals or minor league contracts have struggled. This has made Naquin look even better. Terry Francona stresses that he must take more than spring training into account when picking the team. The Tribe front office is thrilled to watch Naquin, because he's playing like he did when healthy in the minors. He is not a power hitter, but batted .300 over the last two minor league seasons between Class AA and Class AAA.



7. While he was 0-for-3 in Monday's 9-4 victory over the White Sox, Naquin made a nice running catch in center field. He also hit a rocket to left field that was caught, robbing him of a double. With Abraham Almonte suspended for 80 games for flunking a test for PEDs, the door to center field is wide open. Only Naquin is taking advantage of it.



8. The Indians are looking for offense and that's why Marlon Byrd can make the team, even though he didn't arrive until March 19. A couple Tribe people were telling me how they are impressed with how Byrd just stepped into the batter's box and looked so comfortable right away. He is a player with some holes in his swing and won't win a Gold Glove in right field, but he has hit at least 23 homers in each of the last three seasons.