Plan B for Bro: What Will the Indians Do Without Nick Swisher?

Through three full weeks of Spring Training there has been one notable absence from the Cleveland Indians daily line-up. Fans with good seats have been missing the bros and those in the berm have been missing the souvenirs as Nick Swisher is yet to see action in a single game. During practice he has participated in batting practice all month, but has only recently began running the bases and playing the outfield. In fact, Sunday was his first time running the bases in training without knee braces on.

What this means to the Tribe is that there is a legitimate concern that he won’t be ready for the regular season. With just 13 games left in the season, there is precious little time for him to get ready in time. Assuming he can’t there could be a significant change to the Indians expected starting line-up. Many thought that this was going to be a rebound season for Swisher after post-season surgery looked to solve all his injury issues from the 2014 season, but that is already obviously not the case. It has already been stated that Swisher will not play first base during the 2015 season due to stress on his knees and he just began outfield practice during the past week. Even if he were able to start the season with the team, it would almost certainly be as a part time DH, much like Jason Giambi in 2014.

The Indians aren’t particularly prepared to begin the season without Swisher, especially since Zach Walters, an obvious replacement, went out with a strained oblique. If placed on the DL, Swisher will need to be replaced in two places, the starting line-up and the 25 man roster. Of the predicted bench, the best fit to play DH may be David Murphy, who was a regular starter in 2014, but was replaced in the off-season by Brandon Moss. Even with Swisher in the line-up, the Indians were planning on rotating the group of Moss, Murphy, Swisher and Ryan Raburn to get everyone playing time between right field and DH, so things may not be too different. Considering everyone’s 2014 offensive output (Runs Above Replacement for each from last season are listed to the right), production may not be much different either.

The real question is who will take that final roster spot. There are many different ways the Indians could go in this situation from trying to directly replace Swisher with a power hitting DH type to carrying an extra relief pitcher. In between, the Indians could carry an extra middle infielder or outfielder to add some speed or a better glove for a defense that doesn’t look as improved in person as it did on paper.

Just considering the players still in Major League camp, there are a few players who stick out that aren’t expected to make the 25 man roster, but could be a good fit. For a direct replacement, the obvious answer is the mountain at first base, Jesus Aguilar. At 6’3″ and 250 pounds, Aguilar is both the tallest and heaviest position player on the 40 man roster. Despite this and proven power at the minor league level, Aguilar had never shown that power at the Major League level until the past week. Stepping things up, Aguilar hit his first career Spring Training home run this past weekend (he has now played 35 games since 2013) and three doubles, a boon considering his zero extra base hits in 33 Major League at bats during the past regular season. He has always had the talent, but his .429/.433/.643 may show that he finally has the confidence to play at the Major League level on a regular basis. Considering his .000 average in Spring of 2014 lead to a .121 average during the regular season, this could be a real sign of change.

If the Indians wanted to make the roster a little more versatile, however, another 2014 rookie could be a great choice. Outfielder Tyler Holt is a better defender than everyone else on the current Indians roster and isn’t a slouch with the stick either. Last year, Holt hit .268 in limited action with the Tribe with almost no power, but he has looked much more impressive so far this Spring after being given a legitimate amount of playing time. So far, he surprisingly leads the team with eight RBI (for what that’s worth) while batting .281/.361/.375. Holt also leads the team in steals with three without getting caught and if he was the choice, he could be an option of pinch runner that doesn’t currently exist. In addition, he would also be a true back-up to Michael Bourn in center and Moss in right. While he may not seem like a real replacement for Swisher, Murphy and Raburn would be able to take care of the DH duties while Holt provided a different and necessary service.

A final position player option would be a more surprising name in Michael Martinez. Martinez came into camp on a minor league deal with a Major League invite after spending his first four Major League seasons in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Martinez would be an option for true versatility, but less offense than the other two listed above as he holds a .181/.231/.251 Major League batting line in 188 career games. The benefit of Martinez is in his glove and he has shown off a nice one so far this Spring. He has done this in nine games at second, three games at third and three games at short. In his Major League career he has played significantly at all these positions and also has experience at all three outfield positions. If he were selected, he would essentially by Mike Aviles light, which the Indians don’t really need considering they already have Mike Aviles.

All this speculation is assuming that Raburn and Murphy will start the year otherwise on the bench and Terry Francona will go ahead with a seven man bullpen. Given that he has preferred an eight man pen in the past two seasons, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see him go with that option again for the beginning of the 2015 season. With the bullpen still yet to be officially composed it would be a waste of time to go through all the various possibilities right now. That being said, the Indians have a loose schedule early on and will likely have one or two long men in the bullpen (Zach McAllister, Josh Tomlin and Bruce Chen are a few options) to follow a fantastic starting rotation. It already doesn’t seem that there will be enough innings to keep everyone fresh with a seven man pen (at least that’s how things wound up at the end of the last season), so an eighth man doesn’t make much sense.

The Indians do have a few options to replace Swisher if he begins the year on the DL and some seem to be even better than the ultimate bro himself. Whether the Indians go with Holt or Aguilar, there isn’t really a wrong choice, just two very different options. If they go another route, however, there doesn’t appear to be a single obvious option that would significantly improve the team rather than just adding more of the same. These final weeks of Spring should makes things clearer though as we learn the severity of Swisher’s injury and get a most significant view of those who could replace him.