PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Indians have made their first cut of the spring.

Indians manager Terry Francona said he talked to outfielder Billy Hamilton on Thursday before his club¡¯s 5-4 loss to the Padres at Peoria Stadium, informing him that he would not be making the team.

¡°We just felt, out of respect to Billy,¡± Francona said, ¡°because of being the veteran he is and being the really good veteran that he is, we didn¡¯t think it was right to ask him to get on a bus and back up guys if we knew he wasn¡¯t going to be on the team.

¡°He was a pro¡¯s pro. He¡¯s such a good kid, and we¡¯ll certainly attempt to help him land somewhere. That¡¯s why we did it this quickly.¡±

Cleveland signed Hamilton to a Minor League deal on Feb. 15 with a non-roster invitation to big league camp . He played in four games this spring, going 1-for-10 with one walk, five strikeouts and a .482 OPS.

Bieber steady
In his first Cactus League outing, ace right-hander Shane Bieber stayed away from his curveball in order to focus on developing his slider and finding go-to pitches other than his reliable curve. But using his full arsenal on Thursday, Bieber limited the Padres to one run on one hit (a solo homer) with five strikeouts in three innings.

¡°Just trying to keep the momentum moving forward, like plain and simple,¡± Bieber said. ¡°Just nail down everything, continue to work on what I need to work on in bullpen sessions, and when it comes to these games in Spring Training and against a lineup like today, just go out there and compete and throw your best stuff.¡±

His last trip to the rubber was similar, except he pitched a three-inning B game against the Reds while the other half of his team was down the road at Goodyear Ballpark, playing the White Sox. Against Cincinnati, Bieber gave up one run (another solo homer) on three hits with five strikeouts in three frames. And Bieber was sure to treat it like it was a regular Cactus League start.

¡°That game started, first pitch was like 10:30 [a.m.], so we were there bright and early, but, no, it was good,¡± Bieber said. ¡°Anytime you step on the mound, whether it¡¯s against our own guys in live BP or a back-field game against some Reds lineups, you¡¯re going out there and competing and trying to do well.¡±

Bieber¡¯s plan moving forward will be to add an extra inning to his workload in each start moving forward, beginning with a four-inning outing on Tuesday.

Spring Training learning curve
The Indians have seen some impressive at-bats from Bobby Bradley this spring, but on Thursday, he had a few moments to learn from. Although he was 2-for-3 with two more doubles (his fifth and sixth extra-base hits this spring), he made an error at first base and ran into the final out of an inning while trying to move up to third base on a ball in the dirt.

¡°He had a busy day,¡± Francona said. ¡°But he did swing the bat good. But the one good thing about Bobby is you can talk to him and say, 'Hey, this is what I see,' and ¡­ he says, 'OK, I got you.' So he's a tough kid.¡±