The Cleveland Indians‘ pitching and catching units underwent some substantial changes this offseason.
In the rotation, the team parted ways with starting pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir. In the bullpen, it allowed Joe Smith to leave via free agency, and cutting closer Chris Perez opened up another spot.
The Indians added some pieces to fill these voids, including left-handed reliever Josh Outman and closer John Axford. In the rotation, they filled one of the spots with a former prospect in Danny Salazar.
The fifth spot in the rotation is the only one currently up for grabs, and if the team’s official depth chart is any indication, it’ll be filled by Carlos Carrasco.
The catching position features the same two players as last season—Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes—but they’ll switch roles in 2014. Gomes will get the everyday reps, leaving Santana to man multiple positions as the backup catcher.
With a lot of moves taking place in these units, there could be major consequences in the team’s performance this season. So, in this article, we’ll take a closer look at the 14 players who will make up these units while also giving some projections for their 2014 season.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and Fangraphs.com unless otherwise noted.
Indians depth chart courtesy of Clevelandindians.com. Inclusion of Josh Outman and Josh Tomlin came through predictions for spring training position battles.