Platooning Paying Off with Early Success For the Indians in 2021

The face of this year’s Cleveland Indians’ team is ever changing. The squad has its everyday players and those who are platooning at positions.

Terry Francona, had a plan at the beginning of the season and is executing it. Thus far the results have been mixed.

The loss of several key Cleveland players impacted the decisions of the starting season roster.

There was a hole left at shortstop when Francisco Lindor joined the Mets. First baseman Carlos Santana went to the Royals.

Outfielders Delino DeShields and Tyler Naquin were not offered contracts and became free agents.

There’s been a lot of action at each position:

First base – this position has been shared between three players: Jake Bauers, Yu Chang, and Josh Naylor. Bauers has seen most of the play time at first base followed by Naylor then Chang.

Shortstop – Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario split time at the position in the middle of the diamond. The Indians sent down Gimenez to Triple-A on May 18, so a decision seems to have been made at short. Chang is a utility infielder so he would be able to provide assistance for injury or rest purposes.

Outfield – several players have made the move between center field and right field. Eddie Rosario is the Indians’ left fielder leaving the other two positions open. Amed Rosario had also split time between shortstop and outfield. Jordan Luplow, Harold Ramirez, and Naylor are working the outfield. As indicated earlier Naylor also plays first base at nights he’s not in the outfield.

This is a player puzzle of epic proportions. Francona has managed it well. It started in Spring Training and the guys are still finding where they fit best.

The decision at shortstop seems to have been solidified. The outfield and first base may take a bit longer.

Is it a problem to have too many guys and not enough positions? The only negative aspect is that moving players around can not only affect their defensive play but their offensive play as well.

Once the lineup is set the players can focus on perfecting their position.