KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cleveland ace Corey Kluber had a long-toss session and Indians right-hander Danny Salazar threw on the side on Friday, providing a pair of encouraging signs for the injury-riddled AL Central champions.The Indians will begin the playoffs with only two healthy veteran starting pitchers; right-handers Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin. Left-hander Rick Merritt made his first big league start Friday at Kansas City after three relief appearances.Cleveland also placed Carlos Carrasco on the 60-day disabled list before the series opener against the Royals, sidelining the right-hander for the rest of the year. Carrasco broke the pinkie finger on his pitching hand when he was hit by a line drive on Sept. 17.Kluber, the 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner, left his start Monday with a strained quadriceps. Salazar, an All-Star selection this year, has a forearm strain.Kluber is 18-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 32 starts this year.Hes not on the mound yet, but hes keeping his arm nice and stretched out, Indians manager Terry Francona said. And hes making progress, too.Francona said he does not know when Kluber will throw off the mound.We can set up all we want, but until hes ready we dont want to, Francona said. Hell push enough. We dont need to push.The Indians are optimistic Kluber could start the second or third game of the American League Division Series if he has no setbacks.Salazar, who has not pitched since Sept. 9, could throw a simulated game Monday.Its not necessarily etched in stone, but its probably the next thing hell do, Francona said.Also Friday, the Indians activated catcher Yan Gomes from the 60-day DL. Gomes broke his right wrist during a minor league rehab assignment after he had been sidelined by a shoulder injury.While Gomes was hitting .165 in 71 games, Indians pitchers had a 3.62 ERA when he was behind the plate, which is the best among four Indians catchers used this season.Francona said Gomes is not ready to hit.If we put him in itd be for defense and well kind of go from there, Francona said. But, I think just the fact that he can get in the game and play defense is exciting for him and us.Gomes did take batting practice before the game.Thats probably the one that Ive got to figure out the impact and being able to tolerate it, Gomes said. Custom Marlins T-shirts . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. 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CLEVELAND -- Coco Crisps season has improved dramatically, and now the Indians hope he can upgrade theirs, too.Cleveland added much-needed outfield depth and postseason experience on Wednesday by acquiring Crisp in a trade with the Oakland Athletics. The AL Central leaders sent minor league pitcher Colt Hynes to the As for cash and Crisp, who began his career with the Indians in 2002 and returns to a team looking to play deep into October.Crisp waived his rights as a player with 10 years of experience, five with the same team, for the deal to be approved.Hes excited, Indians president Chris Antonetti said before the Indians wrapped up their series with Minnesota. He had the ability to not go anywhere, and Coco chose to come here.The Athletics agreed to give $1,673,497 to the Indians to help offset Crisps contract, half payable on Sept. 15 and the rest on Sept. 30.The 36-year-old Crisp gives Indians manager Terry Francona another switch-hitter, more speed and a player who knows his way around October. Crisp has played in 31 postseason games and won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox -- under Francona -- in 2007.The Indians were in the market for another outfielder after Michael Brantley had to undergo season-ending surgery and Abraham Almonte was disqualified from the postseason following an 81-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.Crisp is scheduled to join the Indians on Thursday and will officially be added to the roster Friday. Because he was acquired ahead of Wednesdays postseason-eligibility deadline, the outfielder will be able to play for the Indians if they make the playoffs.Hes got history here in Cleveland I have history with him, so I think that makes adding somebody at this time in the season a lot easier, Francona said. Weve been through so much as a team and we want to remain a team. I think Coco has a really good chance of sliding iin here and being a part of what were doing really quickly.ddddddddddddCrisp batted .235 with 11 homers and 47 RBI in 102 games this season. He played 58 games in left field and 36 in center for the As, who are in last place in the AL West.He was the longest-tenured player on Oaklands roster and his trade comes two weeks after Crisp told the San Francisco Chronicle he felt the As had reduced his playing time so he wouldnt reach plateaus so his $13 million option for next season would vest.Cocos been here a long time, hes been in the game a long time, As general manager David Forst said. Nobody begrudges him saying what he feels -- obviously we disagreed. Clearly it wasnt a situation where we had to get rid of him. He was still helping us against right-handed pitching and its not like he was a problem in the clubhouse.No, didnt feel like we had to do something. Im not sure we necessarily would have if this opportunity had not come up.The Indians were up front with Crisp about his playing time.The way hell likely be used here wont get him enough plate appearances or games to have that option vest, and Coco was good with that, Antonetti said. He understood that.Crisp played in 415 games over four seasons with the Indians from 2002-05. He batted .287 after joining the Indians, who acquired him from St. Louis as part of the deal for left-hander Chuck Finley. Cleveland packaged Crisp in a six-player deal with the Red Sox in 2006.Crisp also played one season for Kansas City.Hynes, a 31-year-old lefty, played 22 games for San Diego in 2013 and five games for Toronto last year. This season, he was a combined 3-1 with a 3.99 ERA in 38 games in Triple-A and Double-A.---AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report. ' ' '