CLEVELAND — C.C. Sabathia’s dismal start has fueled speculation that the ace’s uncertain contract situation might be affecting his performance.
Sabathia, who is expected to hit the free-agent market at the end of the year, is 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA through his first three starts, allowing 18 earned runs on 24 hits over 14 innings.
“I really don’t think that’s the case,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge. “C.C.’s really developed a lot of mental toughness. There’s really not a lot that he hasn’t experienced. I just think it’s a matter of him fine-tuning himself, and then he’ll be fine.”
Wedge said Sabathia and pitching coach Carl Willis have examined videotapes of the left-hander’s outings this season and have not located anything mechanically wrong.
“I really don’t think he’s that far off,” Wedge said. “You look at his delivery and his arm motion, and he’s the same guy. It’s just a matter of him commanding the ball a little better and kind of finishing things off, whether it be innings or hitters.”
Sabathia is at a loss.
“There’s no excuse why I’m pitching this way,” said Sabathia, whose outing Friday against the A’s was his worst — a career-high nine runs on 12 hits through just 31/3 innings. “It’s just one of those things. I’m just not making good enough pitches to be successful. It’s definitely frustrating.”
Sabathia, 27, has gone through down periods in his career before, but  had appeared to turn the corner at the end of 2006, which led to a Cy Young year in 2007.
“C.C.’s gone through rough stretches before,” Wedge said. “I don’t even know if you can call this a rough stretch. It’s three games. He’s always done a pretty good job of figuring things out.”
“I’ve been here before in my career,” Sabathia said. “I will turn this thing around.”

Gutierrez gab

Struggling right fielder Franklin Gutierrez was back in the lineup Saturday, entering the game batting just .154 (4-for-26) with a home run, four RBIs and eight strikeouts in eight games.
He led off the third inning with the Indians’ first hit of the game — a double in his first at-bat.
Gutierrez, one of the Indians’ hottest spring training hitters, has recently been bothered by an illness.

Minor details

Ben Francisco did not take his hot spring training bat to Triple-A Buffalo, where the outfielder is off to a slow start. He entered Saturday hitting just .172 (5-for-29) with one RBI and nine strikeouts in eight games.
l Outfielder Trevor Crowe, the Indians’
first-round draft pick in 2005, is on the disabled list with a strained back for Double-A Akron.
l Beau Mills, Cleveland’s top draft choice last year, entered Saturday hitting .389
(7-for-18) with a homer and four RBIs in four games for Class A Kinston.

Roundin’ third

Indians shortstop Jhonny Peralta entered Saturday with homers in each of his last three games.
l Wedge was presented with The Sporting News 2007 manager of the year award prior to Saturday’s game. He also won the Baseball Writers’ Associaiton of America award.
l ESPN has added two Indians’ home games to its schedule — Monday’s series opener against the Red Sox and the series finale April 28 against the Yankees.
l WMMS 100.7-FM will pick up the series opener with Detroit on Wednesday, with WTAM 1100-AM broadcasting the Cavaliers.
l Tuesday is the first edition of “Dollar Dog Night.”
l The Indians entered Saturday with six errors through 10 games. They ranked 11th in the American League with a .981 fielding percentage.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136
or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

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