Acta has plan for Phelps

CLEVELAND: Now that Cord Phelps is here, what is manager Manny Acta going to do with him?

""He'll play the majority of the time at second base against right-handers,'' Acta said. ""Hopefully, he can give us a spark. The big thing is that our offense is struggling, and we're trying to maximize every position on the field, especially with Travis (Hafner) not being here and a couple of other guys not swinging to their capabilities.''

That refererence was aimed at Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana, who have been mired in season-long slumps.

Phelps batted .299 with seven homers, 40 RBI and 31 runs at Columbus. He played 28 games at shortstop and 13 at second base. He had to move from second to make room for Jason Kipnis.

There was obvious regret in optioning Shelley Duncan to Triple-A.

""We're going to face only two left-handers the next two weeks, and that's where most of his playing time comes,'' Acta said. ""He understands. I anticipate that he will be back here at some point. He's been a big part of what we've done and hopefully what we're going to do.''

Duncan was batting .222 with two homers and 17 RBI in 81 at-bats. He was the club's best pinch hitter with four hits in seven at-bats and seven RBI.