24-year old lefty swinging Michael Brantley will open the 2012 season in CF and hopefully end it in LF.  Brantley played in 111 games for the Indians last year and he was 120 of 451 (.266 avg, .702 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 7 homers, 46 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.  He has now played in 214 games in his first three years with the Indians and he is 228 of 860 (.265 avg, .675 OPS) with 111 runs scored, 10 homers, 79 RBIs and 27 stolen bases.  Brantley played in 52 games in CF for the Indians last year and he had 1 error and 0 assists while showing off good range there.  Brantley should do a good job for the Indians in 2012.

29-year old lefty swinging Grady Sizemore is going to miss a large chunk of the 2012 season due to injury.  He played in 71 games for the Indians last year and he was 60 of 268 (.224 avg, .706 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 10 homers and 32 RBIs.  Sizemore has now played in 892 games in his first 8 years with the Tribe and he is 948 of 3,547 (.269 avg, .830 OPS) with 601 runs scored, 139 homers, 458 RBIs and 134 stolen bases.  Sizemore played in 56 games in CF for the Indians last year and he had 1 assist and 2 errors there while showing poor range.  The injuries the last few years are taking their toll on Sizemore.

28-year old switch-hitting Trevor Crowe is a longshot to win a bench job this spring.  Crowe played in 15 games for the Indians last year and he was 6 for 28 (.214 avg, .563 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.  Crowe has now played in 205 games in his first three years with the Indians and he is 160 of 653 (.245 avg, .625 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 3 homers, 55 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.  Crowe played in 7 error-free games in CF for the Tribe last year.

27-year old lefty swinging Felix Pie and 32-year old righty swinging Ryan Spilborghs can also handle playing CF.  Pie played in 6 error-free games in CF last year.  Spilborghs played in 13 error-free games while showing outstanding range there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CF IN 2012:  B