The Cleveland Indians roster is going to be in flux over the next week or so as several players, mostly outfielders, are getting healthy. It will be interesting to see what the front office decides to do.
Roberto Perez’ hand injury caused the recall of Francisco Mejia from Columbus, but that is only temporary, because he will likely be sent back today to make room for Adam Plutko, who will start tonight.
The bigger decisions will need to be made when Brandon Guyer is ready to go, and Tyler Naquin will follow soon.
Who stays and who goes when those two are ready to return?
Certainly, the offense has been helped by the return of Lonnie Chisenhall to the lineup. The former first round pick has been plagued by a calf injury since last year’s All Star Game, but he has been very productive since 2014.
Except for an off year in 2015, Chisenhall has had an OPS over 767 in three of the last four years, with a high of 881 last season. He pitched in immediately after coming off the disabled list with a bases loaded single in his first at bat.
A week ago, the Tribe decided to keep Greg Allen over Bradley Zimmer as the primary centerfielder, and were rewarded with Allen going into a slump.
The switch-hitter has gone 1 for his last 22 after raising his average to .286 on June 1st, but he had cut down on his strikeouts until fanning three times on Sunday.
We don’t believe Allen is in jeopardy right now, but when Naquin is ready, the club may decide to go with a platoon of he and Rajai Davis, assuming the latter survives the moves.
That could mean veteran Melky Cabrera gets the gate when Guyer is ready. Cabrera is no doubt a defensive liability, but he is a professional hitter.
Cabrera is hitting just .204 in 54 at bats, and his OPS is just 532, but he has knocked in 11 runs in those at bats, partly because he’s delivered four sacrifice flies already. That leads the team. Getting runs in from third base with less than two outs is a lost art in today’s game, so it is nice to see someone who can get the job done.
By the way, who is second in sacrifice flies? Another professional hitter, Michael Brantley.
Our guess is Cabrera will be let go when Guyer returns, although the right handed hitter has struggled since the end of 2016, hitting .208 in that span, and is unplayable vs. righties, with a .140 batting average since the beginning of ’17.
He’s also hitting just .245 vs. southpaws, well off his .278 career mark. So, it may not be a lock for Guyer to return.
Andrew Miller should also be ready soon, but he will probably go on a rehab assignment first. When he comes back, Tyler Olson will likely go back to AAA, as well traveled veteran Oliver Perez has taken his gig.
Terry Francona has used Perez four times since he arrived on June 2nd, and each time, he has done the job. That’s critical given the state of the Tribe bullpen over the last four or five weeks.
And when Miller returns, it seems Neil Ramirez will get the first crack at being the seventh inning guy. In his last six games, the veteran has thrown 7-2/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight.
The one thing consistent for the edition of the Indians has been change. And it appears more of that is coming.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 