The Cleveland Indians don’t have many position battles to speak of, but the few that will take place this spring are very tightly contested.
A few positions jump off the page as potential battle grounds, those being shortstop, the back-end of the starting rotation and the final of three projected left-handed relief spots. To fill those spots, a bevy of contenders will come forward, including numerous veteran options and a handful of young, intriguing prospects from the farm system.
Over the remainder of this piece, we’ll handicap the team’s most hotly contested spring training position battles, beginning with the final left-handed relief spot in a relatively solid bullpen.
Left-Handed Relief Role No. 3
One might see Kyle Crockett as a shoe-in for the final left-handed relief spot in the Tribe’s bullpen.
Crockett appeared in 43 games for the Indians last season, allowing just a 1.80 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP over 30 innings pitched. The 23-year-old paired those outstanding numbers with some impressive ratios, including 8.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 3.50 K/BB.
Despite all that, an offseason signing has complicated the University of Virginia product’s chances at securing a job at the big league level in 2015.
The team signed veteran lefty Scott Downs back in December, and the 38-year-old figures to at least get a shot at one of three bullpen spots presumed to be reserved for lefties.
Downs has been an outstanding reliever for most of his 13-year career, allowing a 3.56 ERA and a 1.34 ERA over 619 total appearances (including 50 starts).
Last year, Downs struggled through the season’s first half, allowing a whopping 6.08 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP over 38 appearances with the Chicago White Sox. He got a second chance in the latter half of the year, working out of the Kansas City Royals bullpen and allowed a 3.14 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP over 17 appearances (14.1 innings pitched).
Downs pitched well for a contending team, and that speaks volumes to his ability and what he can bring to a team. That being said, Crockett is the front-runner for the final bullpen spot.
Crockett has age and upside in his corner, and at this point in his career, Crockett, who is 15 years Downs’ junior, presents the Indians with a better long-term option out of the pen.
Fifth Starter
Aside from Corey Kluber‘s Cy Young winning campaign in 2014, the Indians rotation was an utter disaster. Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer and Zach McAllister all underperformed and the team had to turn to a few unproven commodities in the likes of T.J. House and Carlos Carrasco (both of whom performed admirably).
This year, the rotation looks mostly set heading into spring training, with Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar and newcomer Gavin Floyd as front-runners for the first four spots.
That leaves one spot for the likes of House, Bauer, Josh Tomlin and Cody Anderson.
Of the four, Bauer has the inside track at a spot. The 24-year-old has easily the best upside of the group but possibly the biggest bust potential as well.
Bauer struggled last year, allowing 3.5 walks per nine innings while averaging slightly over 99 pitches per appearance despite averaging under six innings per start. Bauer’s control has been an issue that’s followed him all throughout his minor league career, but it’s something he’ll have to address in order to take one last step forward.
Should he finally get himself straightened out, Bauer’s fastball, curveball and changeup combo has all the makings of an arsenal built for a front-end starter. Until then, the former UCLA standout remains a major bust candidate as well.
Tomlin is likely to serve in a minor league depth role, filling in both in the bullpen and rotation. House and Anderson are the serious contenders, though.
House filled in as a big league starter in 2014, making 18 starts (19 total appearances) and allowing a 3.35 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 102 innings pitched. House is young (and has options), so his path this year looks to begin in the minor leagues.
Anderson is a stout 6’4″, 220 pound righty with a solid track record in the minors (excluding a poor showing in Double-A last year). Through 2011, 2012 and 2013, Anderson posted ERAs of 1.80, 3.20 and 2.65, respectively, as he moved through the Low-A, High-A and Double-A levels.
Anderson will get a look here in spring training, but his struggles in Double-A last year forecast a return to the Double-A or Triple-A level.
At the end of the day, Bauer looks to be the best choice to start the season, with Tomlin, Anderson and House rounding out the backup options.
Shortstop
The battle at shortstop will be easily the most fun to watch this spring. Top prospect Francisco Lindor, veteran Mike Aviles and 2014 standout Jose Ramirez will all be vying for the starting gig down in Arizona, and, for the most part, they all stand on pretty even ground.
Aviles has experience on his side, but that’s about it. The 33-year-old hasn’t eclipsed the .260/.300 mark in any of the last four seasons, and his -0.8 and 1.5 UZR marks at shortstop in 2013 and 2014, respectively, show that the seven-year veteran is probably better suited for a backup role where he’s free to play short, second, third and a little outfield.
The real battle for the starting job is between Ramirez and Lindor.
Ramirez held his own last year, logging a .262/.300/.346 slash line over 266 plate appearances. In addition, the 21-year-old managed 10 doubles, two home runs, 17 RBI, 27 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.
Ramirez is young and has little left to prove at the minor league level, having logged batting averages and on-base percentages in excess of .270 and .325 at each stop in his minor league career.
Defensively, Ramirez is rivaled by few in the Indians’ system. The Dominican Republic native managed UZR/150 values of 16.3 and 18.9 at shortstop and second base last season, respectively, and if he does lose out to Lindor, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Ramirez and Lindor work on opposite sides of second base for large chunks of their MLB careers.
The sexy option for many fans would be to drop Lindor right into a starting role. Lindor is a stud prospect in every sense of the word, and it’s embodied perfectly by the Columbus Clippers’ tweet below.
However, Lindor may not be ready for all of that at this point.
Defensively, no shortstop in any minor league system can rival Lindor‘s expertise. The 21-year-old’s glove and instincts in the field grade out as plus-plus tools, but his hit tool is significantly weaker.
Though Lindor has shown an ability to hit for an average and to get on base—he possesses a .278 minor league batting average and .355 on-base percentage—he has shown little in the way of power, averaging just a .381 slugging percentage over his four professional seasons.
Last year, Lindor slugged a career-best 11 home runs between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. While that’s a nice step, Lindor mustered just a total of 31 extra-base hits last year and a .389 slugging percentage (nearly identical to his career average).
Lindor‘s hit tool needs further development in the minors. His extra-base hit totals are driven up by his above-average speed, and he showed a slight lack of awareness on the base paths last season, connecting on just 63.6 percent of his attempts to swipe a bag.
Given the development that still needs to take place in Lindor‘s game, it’s safe to bet on his return to the Triple-A level. At least for the beginning of the 2015 season.
That, by default, sends Ramirez to the top of the heap.
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