Indians Send Three to Lake County as They Continue to Tweak the Roster for Friday's Opener

With the season opener closing in on Friday evening the Indians on Wednesday cut down the roster by three players, sending pitchers James Hoyt and Jefry Rodriguez along with OF/INF Jake Bauers to Eastlake to the team's alternate training site.

The Indians have now just 48 hours before they start the 2020 season for real, and Wednesday they continued to make changes to the roster to get down to the 30 players for Friday.

The team sent three players to the team's alternate camp in Eastlake where the Indians squad is working out since there is no minor league baseball in 2020.

Those three players are outfielder Jake Bauers, starting pitcher Jefry Rodriguez and relief pitcher James Hoyt.

Bauers might be the biggest name of the bunch, but with the team acquiring Domingo Santana this offseason through free agency and the recent hot play of Bradley Zimmer, sending Bauers down isn't much of a surprise.

The Indians acquired Bauers last offseason in the deal that sent Yandy Diaz to the Tampa Bay Rays.

He was given plenty of chances in the starting lineup last season, and just didn't hit the ball enough, hitting just .226 with 12 homers and striking out 115 times in 117 games.

Bauers did have one shining moment for the team, hitting for the cycle in a win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Rodriguez had the chance to start a handful of games in 2019 for the Indians, but struggled and eventually was shut down with a shoulder injury.

He made a number of starts in the spring for the Indians, but when "Summer Camp" started he was injured and never got the chance he did back in March.

Rodriguez was acquired from the Washington Nationals in November of 2018 as part of the Yan Gomes trade.

Hoyt was expected to be part of the pen but had some struggles in camp, but likely will find his way back to the big league club at some point in 2020.

Last season he threw in eight games for the Indians, throwing 8.1 innings with an ERA of 2.16.

The deadline to get the roster to 30 is Thursday, and the Indians will open the season Friday at 7:10pm at home against the Kansas City Royals.