GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- It has been a slow spring at the plate for first baseman Matt LaPorta. Though he has 10 RBI, two behind team leaders Travis Buck and Shin-Soo Choo, he's hitting just .174 (8-for-46) with two homers.

Manager Manny Acta has made it clear all he wants LaPorta to do is be productive. Acta needs LaPorta's right-handed bat in a lineup dominated by lefties.

Hitting coach Jon Nunnally has been trying to get LaPorta to shift into a lower gear.

"Coming off last year and going into this year, he really wants to get after it," Nunnally said. "He's been a little jumpy. I've been trying to slow him down."

LaPorta hit a disappointing .221 (83-for-376) with 12 homers and 41 RBI last season for the Indians. He had 82 strikeouts, 46 walks and an on-base percentage of .306.

"He's getting better," Nunnall said. "He's taking some pitches. He's walking a little bit. He's not just jumping all over the place."

LaPorta has five walks and nine strikeouts in 16 games this spring.

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"He's calmed down in the last week and a half or so," Nunnally said. "He's starting to see the ball better and making some good passes. He thought he was seeing the ball good before, but he wasn't."

Homecoming? The Indians expect the first two players taken in the Rule 5 Draft in December will be returned to them.

Pittsburgh used the first pick to take infielder Josh Rodriguez. Seattle used the second pick to take right-hander Jose Flores.

Pittsburgh and Seattle must keep Rodriguez and Flores in the big leagues or offer them back to the Indians at half of the $50,000 purchase price. Rodriguez and Flores must clear waivers to return to the Indians. Any team that claims them would be facing the same situation.

The Pirates are said to be trying to work a trade with the Indians to keep Rodriguez. The Indians, however, need shortstops in the upper levels of their minor-league system.

Last season Rodriguez hit .293 (93-for-317) with 23 doubles, 12 homers and 46 RBI at Class AAA Columbus. He started the year at Class AA Akron and hit .317 (20-for-63) with 11 RBI.

He's hitting .269 (7-for-26) with two RBI in 16 games at shortstop for the Pirates this spring.

Flores, 21, has appeared in four games for the Mariners. He has a 12.27 ERA (five earned runs in 3 innings). He's struck out three, walked four and allowed four hits.

Flores, 6-3 and 250 pounds, pitched at Class A Lake County last year. He had 51 strikeouts and seven walks in 42 innings.

Live with it: Grady Sizemore will play in a minor-league game today at the Indians' training complex instead of playing with the Indians tonight against San Francisco in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Acta said Sizemore will DH and hit second in every inning.

Decision time: With David Huff starting against the Giants tonight and Jeanmar Gomez following him to the mound, a decision on the fifth starter is at hand.

"With them both pitching tomorrow [tonight], we'll make a decision after that," Acta said.

Josh Tomlin is favored to win the job.

Problems: The front office is going to be scrambling to finalize the 25-man roster because several of the players they like aren't on the 40-man roster. That means a space will have to be created for players such as Buck, Adam Everett, Justin Germano and Jack Hannahan if they make the club.

DL candidates: Joe Smith, Jason Donald, Sizemore and Trevor Crowe are expected to open the season on the disabled list.

Smith, however, thinks there's still a chance he can sneak on the roster for Opening Day. He's recovering from a strained abdominal muscle, but has played catch the past two days.

The Indians have said they will not push him to get him ready for Opening Day.