Cleveland Indians: 5 Key Spring Training Storylines to Follow

All eyes will be on Edwin Encarnacion, beginning with his first live at-bat out in Arizona. The $20 million man is expected to be the main source of power in the Indians lineup, replacing the production of Mike Napoli.

Spring is a hard time to judge any player, as the numbers are less important compared to how they look out on the field, but fans will surely be keeping an eye on how he performs throughout February and March.

It will also be interesting to see how often Terry Francona plays the new star, and whether he puts Encarnacion in a lot of games at first base, or settles him more into the DH role.

The 34-year-old split time between the two positions in Toronto, but it may be more beneficial to his durability if Carlos Santana receives the bulk of the time at first base.

The key will be to not panic if Encarnacion has a slow start, although that does not seem likely given his past performance. Regardless, spring training is a time to get back into playing shape and regain that feel for major league pitching. It would be easy to panic if he starts poorly based on how much money he is being paid, but all that matters is how he does during the regular season.

The nightmares of Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn may remain for some, but Encarnacion comes to Cleveland at a better time in his career, so he should not disappoint.