PEORIA, Ariz. — Grady Sizemore is moving closer to making his exhibition debut.

Sizemore, who is working his way back from knee surgery, passed another test in the road to recovery Sunday in Goodyear, running the bases for the first time.

“It went well,” Sizemore said. “I felt good coming into today, so I wasn’t nervous or anything like that. I kind of had an idea how I would feel. I started out slow and was able to push it towards the end and I felt good.

“I was obviously hoping that there wouldn’t be any setbacks or problems and there wasn’t. Overall, it was a good day.”

Sizemore said he ran at 90-95 percent and is scheduled to run the bases two more times over the next week, most likely on Tuesday and Thursday. If he clears that hurdle, Sizemore’s exhibition debut could come as early as this weekend.

“There’s not much left that I have to go through. I’m pretty close,” he said. “Before these next two baserunning days are over, I want to push it to the max.

“I want to get out there in the outfield and run as hard as I can on a ball in the gap and see what’s it’s really like on the bases to stretch it out. That’s the next test here this week is to not hold back.”

Sizemore has been taking things slowly since arriving at training camp. He began by participating in agility drills, throwing in the outfield and hitting in the cages. Last week, he started taking live batting practice.

“Everything’s been real good,” Sizemore said. “It’s been symptom-free, no setbacks. It’s been stiff at times but not sore. It’s just a different feeling. I notice the spot (on the knee). I don’t necessarily have discomfort or pain with it. It’s just getting used to it and pushing through whatever it is you’re feeling.”

Sizemore is in a familiar spot. He arrived at camp last year after having the previous season cut short by an elbow injury that required surgery. He had problems with the elbow throughout spring training before injuring his knee in the final exhibition game and playing in just 33 games during the regular season, when he hit just .211 without a home run and 13 RBIs.

“There was still some side effects (with the elbow), just like there are going to be with the knee,” Sizemore said. “I’m just anxious to get out on the field and see how that translates.

“It feels fine. I don’t feel slower. I don’t feel like I’ve lost a step.”

Though manager Manny Acta said it was not a foregone conclusion that Sizemore would not be ready for opening day, the Indians aren’t counting on him in center field April 1 against the White Sox at Progressive Field.

Sizemore isn’t willing to offer a prediction on the matter.

“I’m not really looking past that first (exhibition) game and seeing how it feels out there on the field,” Sizemore said.

Donald’s down

An MRI on Saturday revealed that third baseman Jason Donald has a bone bruise in his left hand. He is expected to be sidelined for at least the next three days.

Donald missed five games after being hit on the hand by a pitch against the White Sox. He returned to the lineup Thursday and Friday before being scratched Saturday.

Donald, who is batting .308 (4-for-13) with a double in six games, is still considered the front runner for the starting job at third.

“Nothing has changed,” Acta said. “We’re going to have plenty of time to run him out there.”

Huff’s stuff

Left-hander David Huff, one of three candidates for the fifth spot in the rotation, was not happy with his effort Sunday in the Indians’ 7-2 loss to the Padres in Peoria.

Huff worked consecutive scoreless innings and entered the seventh with the Indians trailing by a run before imploding. He allowed all of his runs (four) and hits (six) and was removed with two outs in the inning.

“I gave up runs and I’m (ticked),” said Huff, who is 1-0 with a 7.45 ERA in four exhibition appearances. “The first two innings, I thought I threw well. I was filling up the strike zone. Then I started rushing stuff. I’m upset. I gave up runs and they look at results here, not how you throw.”

Acta said Huff’s performance did not hurt him in his race with Josh Tomlin and Jeanmar Gomez.

“We don’t go by one outing,” he said.

Roundin’ third

The Indians lost 11-8 to the White Sox in a “B” game in Glendale. Cleveland starter Alex White, the Indians’ first-round draft choice in 2009, allowed three runs on three hits over 2 2/3 innings. Carlos Santana and Cord Phelps hit homers for the Indians, while Lonnie Chisenhall went went 3-for-4 with a double. … Today, 4:05, STO (live)/WTAM 1100-AM (delayed 7 p.m.) vs. Oakland at Goodyear Ballpark. Justin Masterson (0-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. LHP Dallas Braden (0-3, 10.80).

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

Hate to start off the year with a negative column before the Indians even take the field for a regular-season game, but this doesn’t look like a team that’s ready to contend in the Central Division.

This doesn’t look like a team that’s ready to contend in any division.

Yes, it’s only spring training, but the Indians aren’t hitting and they aren’t pitching, two pretty important things when it comes to winning baseball games.

If you’re a betting man or woman, it’s a safe wager that this will continue when Cleveland opens the season April 1 against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field.

There’s just too much working against the Indians and too little working for them to compete in a division that got much better in the offseason and was probably already too good for them to begin with.

l Indians ace Fausto Carmona appears to have turned the corner and at least looks close to the same pitcher he was during a Cy Young-type season in 2007. Beyond that, Cleveland’s rotation is ultrathin.

When Justin Masterson is your No. 2 starter, you have serious problems from a starting pitching perspective. Third starter Mitch Talbot struggled at the end of a promising rookie season last year and has looked terrible this spring.

The rest of the rotation, fourth starter Carlos Carrasco and one of three candidates – Josh Tomlin, Jeanmar Gomez and David Huff – is largely unproven.

They say pitching wins games, and the Indians don’t have nearly enough in the starting department, especially in an offensively charged American League.

l Where is the Indians’ offense going to come from outside of Shin-Soo Choo? Choo continued to progress into an elite offensive player last year, but he is the only certified weapon in a lineup full of question marks.

Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and center fielder Grady Sizemore are coming off injury-plagued seasons and there is no way the Indians can count on Travis Hafner after watching him the past four seasons.

New second baseman Orlando Cabrera has proved he can handle the bat well enough throughout his career, but he isn’t striking fear into opposing pitchers and never has.

If Jason Donald is the starter at third base, there won’t be much offense coming from a position traditionally associated with power and pop.

Matt LaPorta? Yeah, he’s supposed to be a run producer, but the Indians have seen none of that the past two seasons, as the key piece of the CC Sabathia trade has struggled to adapt to pitching on the big league level.

Left fielder Michael Brantley, also acquired in the Sabathia deal, hasn’t shown he can provide anything outside of some speed on the basepaths. But he has to get on those bases, and has done little of that during two stints with the Indians in 2009-10.

Catcher Carlos Santana has hit on every level he’s been, but like Asdrubal Cabrera and Sizemore, he is coming off an injury that shortened his season. Santana hit upon his arrival in Cleveland last year, but began sinking at the plate before he suffered the season-ending knee injury. There is no guarantee he produces this year and he will most likely be hitting out of the high-profile third spot in the order.

(bullet) The bullpen was the strength of the team last year and nearly all of those relievers are back in the fold.

Still, bullpens are fickle. No matter how well Cleveland’s pitched in 2010, without proven, big-time arms, it’s tough to duplicate that feat. And the Indians have just one that comes close to that description in closer Chris Perez.

There’s even an asterisk next to Perez, who will open the season as a full-time closer for the first time in his young career.

The guys expected to get Perez the ball in the ninth – Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, Jensen Lewis and Joe Smith, among others – have all pitched well at times, but have been far too inconsistent to count on.

So there you have it. Not exactly a pretty picture from a contending perspective.

Sorry if the parade is getting rained on here, but this is what is confronting a team that looks to better a fourth-place finish in the division last year.

That could be where the Indians wind up this year as well, provided they are able to finish ahead of the Royals.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Grady Sizemore is scheduled to run the bases today, which according to manager Manny Acta, is the final test for the Indians center fielder before he can begin playing in exhibition games.

If Sizemore passes, Acta said the Indians would try to get him into games between March 20-30, not necessarily in big league ones.

“We’re going to try to control it as much as we can,” Acta said. “If it’s going to be something that will alter the game too much, we might do it on the minor league side.”

Sizemore still isn’t expected to be ready for opening day, but he has yet to endure a setback in his recovery from microfracture surgery on his left knee.

When Sizemore is ready to play for real during the regular season, Acta said he would not place limitations on the three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove award winner on the bases.

“I think whenever he’s ready to play, he’s going to have the green light,” Acta said. “Then, it’s up to him about how good he feels about stealing bases. The only thing I can control is the volume of his playing time. I can’t control how much he can steal bases.”

Sizemore averaged 29 stolen bases from 2005-08, but injuries have limited him to just 17 over the past two seasons. Acta doesn’t think it is vital for him to return to the base-stealing threat he has been in the past.

“When it comes to speed and stolen bases, it’s fine if we have the total package,” Acta said, “but I don’t think you’ll hear me complain if he drops 20-30 bombs, even if he doesn’t steal 40.”

Donald’s down

Third baseman Jason Donald was scratched from the lineup with lingering soreness in his left hand. He was replaced by Luis Valbuena.

Donald played Thursday and Friday after missing five games when he was hit on the hand by a pitch against the White Sox.

The OC

Career shortstop Orlando Cabrera appears to be adapting well to his new position at second base.

“He’s turned some nice double plays and I can see the way he takes infield that he’s almost rounding into shape,” Acta said. “This guy is one of the most fundamentally sound infielders that I’ve ever been around.”

Acta said Cabrera’s worth goes well beyond

top-shelf fielding.

“This guy’s got a pretty good idea of what to do at the plate,” Acta said of the career .274 hitter in 14 big league seasons. “He’s one of the best baserunners in the league the last 10 years. He’s one of the most heady players in the big leagues. He’s going to influence these guys.”

No worries

Mitch Talbot’s spring has not begun well. In three starts covering 62/3 innings, the right-hander has allowed 14 runs on 15 hits and four walks.

Acta doesn’t seem overly concerned with Talbot’s ineffectiveness.

“It’s spring training. He’s getting ready for the season,” Acta said. “The only thing I’m concerned with is that we’re not able to stretch him out.”

Talbot (0-0, 17.55 ERA) lasted just three innings of a scheduled four-inning outing in his last start Friday. He allowed three runs on five hits.

Roundin’ third

A 2-0 victory over the Angels on Saturday was the Indians’ first win in eight exhibition games.

* A crowd of 5,004 at Goodyear Ballpark was the largest of the exhibition season.

* The Indians will play a “B” game today against the White Sox in Glendale. RHP Alex White (0-1, 10.80 ERA), Cleveland’s first-round draft choice in 2009, will start.

* Today, 4:05 vs. Padres at Peoria Stadium (Peoria), STO/WMMS 100.7-FM. Carlos Carrasco (0-1, 3.60) vs. RHP Tim Stauffer (0-0, 5.19).

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136

or cassenheimer@chronicle.com.