Cleveland Indians Roundup: Spring Training Abundant with Options; An Outfield Sans Michael Brantley

The Cleveland Indians have many options in camp for Spring Training including 12 in the outfield–and that doesn’t include Bradley Zimmer or Clint Frazier.

One of the biggest stories of the off-season for the Cleveland Indians has been the outfield dilemma. The team’s best outfielder, Michael Brantley, underwent shoulder surgery in November, and much speculation over his return has propagated through the media. Given the likelihood of him missing some amount of time at the beginning of this year, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com wonders what an outfield without the All-Star will look like.

As Hoynes notes, the team will have 12 outfielders in camp this spring, but only ten of these players will be healthy. Unless one of these players upends the current plan, we will likely see some combination of Rajai Davis, Abraham Almonte, and Lonnie Chisenhall patrolling the outfield. Per Hoynes, Collin Cowgill and Joey Butler are the current favorites to take the two additional outfield spots, although neither player is particularly inspiring.

More from Cleveland Guardians News

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer also touches upon this subject in his latest piece. He believes that Tyler Naquin might make the team – barring a more notable veteran acquisition. Naquin has an outstanding arm, and he is likely to be an above-average center fielder. Even further, Naquin has consistently shown the ability to be a solid batter, while many of the other options come with major question marks.

Also from the piece, Pluto touches on the bullpen. The team now has 14 relievers in Spring Training, and many of those players will likely factor into the season at some point, since Terry Francona is known for churning through relievers. Additionally, the Indians only have four players who are near locks to begin the season in the ‘pen.

More from around the American League Central:

What Will Michael Brantley-less Outfield Look Like for the Cleveland Indians – Cleveland.com

Cleveland Indians Have Terry Talkin’ Dreams of Spring, Options at Third and Outfield – Cleveland.com

Detroit Tigers: Power Rankings Are Wrong – Motor City Bengals

#Indians on Twitter

Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @WahoosonFirst!