Published: Thursday, February 17, 2011, 10:37 PM     Updated: Thursday, February 17, 2011, 10:47 PM

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Manager Manny Acta met with his pitchers and catchers Thursday morning before their first official workout of spring training. Here’s what he told them — “You guys pitched well in the second half of last season.”

He gave them some stats to chew on:

The Indians were tied for fourth in the AL in the second half in ERA at 3.86.

The bullpen’s ERA in the second half was 2.95, the second best in the AL next to the Yankees. In September, the pen’s ERA was 2.11, trailing only San Francisco in the big leagues.

Acta said his pitchers needed to hear that as they started their journey toward Opening Day and the 2011 season.

“That is why our expectations, and my expectations, are to win this year,” said Acta. “We really liked what we saw in the second half. We wanted to let them know that pitching is the heart and soul of baseball. . . . That was the message today.”

Good pitching starts with a good rotation. The Indians first four starters are Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, Mitch Talbot and Carlos Carrasco. The fifth spot will be decided among Josh Tomlin, David Huff, Anthony Reyes, Aaron Laffey and Jeanmar Gomez.

Carmona, Masterson and Talbot are back from last year. Huff opened the season in the rotation, but didn’t last. Tomlin, Gomez and Laffey helped out during the year. Reyes never made it back from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Acta sees this as an improvement over the spring of 2010.

“We came to camp last year with Jake [Westbrook] penciled in as No.1 and no one knew if he would be able to pitch,” said Acta. “Fausto, coming off those two horrendous years, was No. 2. We didn’t have a No. 3, but we decided to give Masterson a chance. We came up with Talbot as our No. 4 after an impressive spring training, but the only thing he had going for him was that he had two straight winning seasons in Triple-A and was out of options. Then David Huff had a spot because he led the team in wins the year before.”

Indians starters finished the year at 51-71 with a 4.53 ERA. Carmona was the top winner at 13-14 with a 3.77 ERA in 2101/3 innings. Talbot (10-13, 4.41) was the only other starter to reach double figures in victories. Masterson and Tomlin won six games each. So did Westbrook, who recovered from Tommy John surgery just in time to get traded to St. Louis. So it’s not like the Giants’ rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Barry Zito and Madison Bumgarner is going to start looking over its shoulder.

Still, Acta is encouraged.

“We’re coming into camp with Fausto, Masterson, Talbot and Carrasco coming from back from decent seasons, and we have a battle for the fifth spot,” he said. “That’s why we’re excited about the rotation. No more jokes about our No. 1 and No. 2 starters like last year.”

Indians pitchers finished last in the big leagues in strikeouts in 2010. Acta wasn’t happy about that, but if you don’t have strikeout pitchers, you’re not going to get strikeouts.

What bothered him was the Indians’ inability to throw first-pitch strikes.

“We finished last in throwing first-pitch strikes,” he said. “The progress in the second half was because we improved on that. . . . In the second half, we still didn’t have a lot of offensive weapons because Carlos Santana got hurt and Grady was out, but we played better because we jumped over about five teams in first-pitch strikes.”

He credited Tomlin, Gomez and relievers Justin Germano and Frank Herrmann for throwing the ball over the plate.

“Those guys are strike throwers. They set the tone,” said Acta.

Here’s what Acta had to say about his top four starters:

Carmona: “Fausto isn’t going backward. . . . He’s our horse.”

Masterson: “I think Masterson could have a breakout year. Something clicked for him, especially over the last six weeks of the season.”

Talbot: “He showed up in camp in great shape, committed to make everyone of his starts this year unless something unforeseen happens.”

Carrasco: “A lot of eyes are going to be on him. He has the stuff to be one of the best guys in the AL, period.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158