Cleveland Sports Forum

Nothing impressive in the box score; did anyone do anything positive? Kyle Nelson had a good line 2K and no hits or walks. Brian Shaw is typically terrible in spring training so not sure how he can win a job. Hembree offer anything?

The highlights were pretty much all Chisox today.

The one highlight really was Bo Naylor's base hit. It was really smoked - the SS went up after it but it hit the top of the glove and practically tore it off. So the younger Naylor got the highlight over the older Naylor batting in front of him.

For the Chisox..I'm sure you know all about Luis Robert. Well the question on this kid is whether he can cut down on his strikeouts but he is projected to be a star. Interestingly he smoked to balls to right field (opposite field) and stole a base after the first one.

If that kid develops into that kind of hitter, leadoff, with the power and speed he has that lineup will be lethal.

Back to the Tribe - Bauers throwing his glove to that kid was the highlight.

He may be throwing his 1st baseman's mitt pretty soon cause he is 0-ST and is quickly losing his chance to make the team.

When are the first cuts?

Does Brian Shaw look as washed up as he has shown so far?

I see the Tribe continues its tradition of bringing up guys on game day that aren't in the major camp. Major league meal money comes with it. A few extra bucks never hurts.

With a B game too snd no one playing full game there's opportunities for everyone

Just because I'm clogging up the Articles folder:

Predicting Tribe's 2021 Opening Day roster
1:51 PM MST
Mandy Bell


GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Indians entered Spring Training with more possible position battles than they’ve had over the past few years. And even with over two weeks of camp under their belts, there still isn’t a tremendous amount of clarity about where the roster will stand when the team leaves Goodyear, Ariz.

There are some guarantees when it comes to the 26-man roster and a lot of question marks. Let’s take an early look at how the Indians’ 2021 Opening Day roster could shake out:

Catcher (2): Roberto Pérez, Austin Hedges
After two years of battling through injuries, Pérez entered camp in excellent shape, having dropped 25 pounds over the offseason. There’s no question that Pérez will be the club’s primary catcher. What’s left to determine is just how much Hedges will spell Pérez. In a year of trimming payroll, the Indians decided to keep Hedges, who signed a one-year, $2.8 million deal to avoid arbitration. The two are very similar defensively, and could be a solid duo behind the dish.

First base (1): Bobby Bradley
It’s still nearly impossible to predict how the Indians’ first-base situation will work out. The Indians told Josh Naylor to focus on right field, leaving Bradley and Jake Bauers as the top two candidates for first base. Bauers is probably the better option defensively, and the 25-year-old talked about the positive changes he made to his mental approach after a tough 2020. However, Bradley’s power is undeniable, and after losing 35 pounds over the offseason, he feels lighter on his feet on defense. If he can become more consistent at the plate and cut down his strikeouts, he may be a hard bat to ignore. But this battle may be the tightest one the Indians have to figure out this spring.

Second base (1): Cesar Hernandez
There’s no doubt Hernandez, who earned a Gold Glove Award in a strong year at second base in 2020, will be back in that position for the club in 2021. When last season ended, both Hernandez and the Tribe expressed interest in keeping the second baseman in Cleveland, but the Indians weren’t sure if they’d have the financial flexibility to make it happen. But after a handful of offseason moves freed up their budget (even if it was just a little), they were able to ink Hernandez to a one-year, $5 million deal.

Third base (1): José Ramírez
There’s no contemplating when it comes to Ramírez’s position.

Shortstop (1): Andrés Giménez
This will continue to be a close fight between Amed Rosario and Giménez. While Rosario has more Major League experience and could be the Opening Day starter to allow Giménez to start in the Minors (for service time purposes), the Tribe could also choose to move Rosario into the outfield mix and start Giménez at short. However, because the Triple-A season will be delayed by a month, the Indians may decide against having Giménez sit at the alternate site to start the year.

Designated hitter (1): Franmil Reyes
No surprises here. Reyes’ power has him locked into the Indians’ DH role.

Utility (1): Mike Freeman
He may be on a Minor League deal, but Freeman has been in this position before. Similar to last offseason, Freeman was designated for assignment to open up some space on the 40-man roster for other roster moves. The Indians were able to re-sign the utility man to a Minor League deal, and after filling that role seamlessly for the last two seasons, Freeman immediately became the favorite to win the job once again. He’ll be competing against Yu Chang and maybe Ernie Clement this spring, but it’d be hard to imagine a situation where Freeman doesn’t break camp with the Tribe.

Outfield (5): Eddie Rosario, Josh Naylor, Oscar Mercado, Jordan Luplow, Amed Rosario
Because we have Giménez at shortstop for now, Rosario will get penciled in here. The one guarantee is that Eddie Rosario will man left field, and it’s expected that Mercado will reclaim his starting job in center. That leaves a battle between Naylor (who can also back up at first base), Luplow (who has yet to see Cactus League play due to an ankle sprain) and Daniel Johnson to win the other corner outfield spot.


Starting pitchers (5): Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill
The Tribe’s top three starters are a lock, and assuming McKenzie doesn’t run into any problems with injuries, it seems safe to assume that he proved enough in '20 to secure his place in the rotation. The fifth spot will likely come down to Quantrill, Logan Allen and Adam Plutko. The Tribe has Plutko stretching his arm out as a starter right now, but the team has indicated that could change at some point in camp. Quantrill has been the favorite to win the job, but Allen lost 35 pounds over the winter and revamped his mechanics to put himself in a strong position to compete for the final opening spot.

Relievers (8): James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase, Nick Wittgren, Phil Maton, Oliver Pérez, Adam Plutko, Bryan Shaw, Kyle Nelson
Without Brad Hand, Karinchak seems to be the most obvious option to take over as the Indians' closer. The team will certainly have options in Wittgren or Clase (they’ll probably need to see a little of Clase before he’d earn that title after he missed '20 with a suspension), but Karinchak remains the favorite. From there, the bullpen could go in many different directions. Maybe Shaw and Pérez will be the non-roster invitees who break camp with the club or Blake Parker could end up having a strong showing this spring.

Not Shaw He looks awful Maybe Parker Or Hembree Or Allen

One week or so of spring training doesn't mean much, but it has not been an especially impressive start.

Middle infielders are a combined 27 for 68 with 4 home runs.
Outfielders are a combined 18 for 82 with no homers. Invitees Gamel and Hamilton a combined 1-14
Battle of 1st basemen: Bradley with 2 homers, Bauers no hits but 4 walks..
Battle for CF Zimmer 3 for 7 with 3 strikeouts; Mercado 3 for 10 with 1 K.

Only Civale of the starters has pitched well. Logan Allen a contender has too. Gose and Stephen and Maton, Hembree and Nelson have been good among the bullpen competition.

You forgot Bieber. Overall though ugly so far.

Civale is such a huge guy because we know we can pretty much count on Bieber and Plesac.

Plesac goes today.

Plesac has a very short track record, 171 career innings. He came out or college as a lesser light than Bieber or Civale. Been really good so far but I wouldn't let call him a sure thing.

Why dont we see more of Logan Allen? The guy tried to really get in shape, reward him. We seem to get Shaw every day.

Logan is in the starting pitching rotation I believe so he won't be more than every 5 days.

Shaw in again today and pitched a good inning this time

civ ollilavad wrote:Plesac has a very short track record, 171 career innings. He came out or college as a lesser light than Bieber or Civale. Been really good so far but I wouldn't let call him a sure thing.

civ - I still remember Clevinger remarking that Plesac had worked this past offseason (after 2019) and he was a whole different guy. Guess what, he was.

So to me he is the real deal.

He also had a problem breaking team rules. Didn't seem to care.

https://deadspin.com/bozo-zach-plesac-l ... 1844720927

Do not care as long as he pitches well for the Cleveland Indians.

Reyes takes team lead in breaking COVID rules.

I wonder if they have a team barber and if so why did Franmil need to go elsewhere?