The Latest Indians 2020 Roster Prediction Halfway Through the Spring

The Indians are turning the corner on the spring as they start to look ahead to the start of the 2020 season, and there's plenty of interesting decisions still to make on the team's final roster before opening day.

We are officially halfway through the spring, and the big question on the mind of many Cleveland Indians fans is a simple one – who makes the team’s roster come opening day?

A number of players are fighting on a daily basis for the opportunity to be on the team’s roster come opening day 2020 when the Tribe hosts the Detroit Tigers March 26 at Progressive Field.

It’s been fun to watch players try and step their game up, as well as for some unknowns to try and make the roster after being an afterthought this winter.

Today we take another look at the roster, players we think are going to make it, and how it’s all going to shape out come 23 days from now when the umpire yells out ‘Play Ball’ for the first time at Progressive Field.

Catcher:

Roberto Perez, Sandy Leon

This is probably the easiest prediction to make on the roster, as unless there’s an injury to speak of Perez and Leon have the two catcher positions all locked up.

The team has rolled out Beau Taylor and Cameron Rupp a bit this spring to see what they have, but again now that Perez has returned after offseason ankle surgery to remove bone spurs, it’s a given that he and offseason acquisition Leon are the two catchers that will be in the charge of the pitching staff.

Infielders:

Carlos Santana, Cesar Hernandez, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Mike Freeman, Christian Arroyo

This isn’t as easy as it appears, as if these are the six players that make the roster, it will mean that Bobby Bradley and Yu Chang start the season at AAA Columbus.

It’s not a terrible thing, but here’s hoping that it doesn’t hurt either players confidence moving forward.

The team really seems to like the idea of keeping both Freeman and Arroyo on the roster, despite the fact that most nights neither are going to play much less both of them.

Arroyo is a player the team kept it touch with last season and finally brought in, and if he can play a couple infield spots, it will help out.

Freeman last season played in 75 games as a utility guy, hitting a solid .277 with four homers and 24 runs batted in.

If the team decides to dump Arroyo, it could keep around Bradley or Chang, or even keep a sixth outfielder on the roster.

Outfielders:

Franmil Reyes, Oscar Mercado, Jake Bauers, Jordan Luplow, Delino DeShields, Domingo Santana

This is another tough spot to call with the amount of guys currently battling for positions and daily going at it to try and prove they belong.

Reyes and Mercado are in for sure, and you could probably say the same for DeShields and Santana, who the team traded for and inked this offseason.

That leaves Luplow and Bauers. Luplow hit 14 homers against lefties last season, while Bauers is trying to erase a tough 2019 and find his stroke at the plate as a player that can play everyday.

We all knew this unit would be a work in progress, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see a number of moves at this spot early on in the season.

How quickly Tyler Naquin comes back is one factor to watch for, as well as how the team feels about Bradley Zimmer and Greg Allen. Daniel Johnson appears to still be on the outside looking in but is getting closer to being on the Major League roster.

Starting Pitchers:

Shane Bieber, Carlos Carrasco, Zach Plesac, Adam Plutko, Aaron Civale

The early injury to Mike Clevinger has opened the door for Plutko to get at least 1-2 starts for the team before they likely have to either shift him to the pen or make a tough decision on having him with the franchise.

Beiber has earned the right to start the opener, and Carrasco’s hip injury early in the year should be healed up enough to make the second start of the year on that Saturday at home against the Tigers.

Plesac and Civale are pretty much interchangeable, but at the same time with Civale suffering from a sore groin that stopped him from a few starts, the team likely will go first with Plesac.

The wild card in all of this is how the team deals with Plutko after Clevinger comes back from the early spring knee surgery.

There are plenty of minor league options if this unit gets beat up like it did in 2019, with guys like Jefry Rodriguez, Scott Moss and Logan Allen all waiting their chances to pitch in the Majors.

Relief Pitchers:

Brad Hand, Adam Cimber, Nick Wittgren, Oliver Perez, James Karinchak, James Hoyt, Hunter Wood

If the team decides to only go with five outfielders, this unit could add another arm, but right now to start the season we have them with seven relievers.

Hand is the closer and likely Cimber and Wittgren will be the two guys in the ‘setup’ role. Oliver Perez will see plenty of work, and the team likes what they have seen from Karinchak thus far.

Hoyt and Wood will be the two long men or pitchers that get looks if the games get out of hand either way. They both had time with the MLB roster a season ago.

There’s going to be some decent minor league competition that could push these guys to not have off nights, and per usual with a Terry Francona team there’s going to be plenty of back and forth with relievers between Columbus and Cleveland.

Emmanuel Clase’s Indians debut likely won’t happen till May, and the team isn’t going to force him back even when he’s ready.

Look for a lot of names, as well as a lot of back and forth with this unit once the season gets going.