During the off-season, potentially expanding the roster to 26 men for the entire season was a topic of debate and Terry Francona made his opinions clear that he’d be extremely happy if it were to come to pass. While it didn’t, Francona’s recent actions in player usage bring into question whether or not he really would use a 26 man roster as he’s only been regularly using 23 of the 25 he has.
Currently, the Indians have a three man bench and an eight man bullpen, generally not the most efficient way to distribute talent on a baseball team, especially a team that has only thrown 133.2 innings out of the bullpen, fifth least in baseball and less than 3 IP away from being second to the bottom. Essentially, the Indians starters, even while struggling, have provided the team with more innings than nearly any other team in baseball so Francona would have trouble finding enough work for a seven man bullpen. With an eight man, it’s nearly impossible to keep everyone active.
For the Indians, it has been a combination of pitching slightly less than would be optimal for Dan Otero and Zach McAllister and barely pitching at all with Shawn Armstrong and Joe Colon. While the prime four, Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Boone Logan, have been getting their regular use (as has #1 any use man Nick Goody), the lack of total relief innings and too many men in the pen have lead to McAllister playing in 13 of 44, Otero in 16 of 44, Armstrong in just 9 and Colon in none.
We’ve discussed at length in article form, on twitter and on the Burning River Radio podcast the fact that the Indians could fix multiple problems by moving one of their struggling starters (generally Trevor Bauer or Josh Tomlin) into the bullpen when Corey Kluber comes back rather than sending Mike Clevinger back to AAA. This would still leave the Tribe with an 8 man bullpen, but it could be easier to get the new long man an extended outing every week than it is to get the short man multiple one inning stints.
The bench situation is more interesting and the place where the Indians have a real glaring hole. While utility men aren’t expected to play often, a team that carries five outfielders should expect a little bit of offensive performance from that fifth man. Especially since Michael Brantley is going to start every game and never be replaced defensively and Bradley Zimmer and Lonnie Chisenhall don’t need defensive replacements, having two utility infield/outfielders is excess.
Right now, the Indians could never use an outfielder more. Tyler Naquin is in AAA and injured while Abraham Almonte and Brandon Guyer are expected to be out a month. Austin Jackson is nearing a comeback, but remains on the DL much longer than originally expected. Despite all this, Daniel Robertson, ostensibly the Indians 4th outfielder, didn’t play in five straight games last week and will likely be DFA’d as soon as Jackson returns from the DL.
Essentially, the Indians are overburdened with versatility. Robertson can play 2B and all three outfield positions. Gonzalez can play all four infield positions and theoretically, all three outfield spots. Jose Ramirez can play three infield spots and at least left field. With the majority of the regulars never taking a single at bat off (Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor and Edwin Encarnacion haven’t had a game off this year, Jason Kipnis has had just one since returning from the DL, Ramirez has had just one off this season and Chisenhall just two since coming off the DL. Bradley Zimmer has played in every game that he’s been on the team and Brantley hasn’t had a day off since missing three with an ankle sprain.
The Indians barely need a single utility infielder (I’d argue they don’t even need that), let alone two. Instead, what the team really needs is a pinch hitter or two. Francona would never use Gonzalez or Robertson as a bench bat and essentially the same is true about Roberto Perez. If this was a short term issue, the Indians could just sit around and wait for Jackson and Guyer to return, but Guyer won’t be back for a month and Jackson isn’t quite the right handed power bat.
Unfortunately, there’s no great answer. Jesus Aguilar, who is currently hitting .292/.346/.569 with Milwaukee, would be a fun choice, but the Indians decided to move on earlier this season. Nellie Rodriguez, who was supposed to at least be Aguilar part II, is playing atrociously in Columbus and will likely never be a Major League option at this point. If there is an answer, it might be Richie Shaffer, who has some of that versatility and some of that coveted power.
There are two things holding the Indians back from making a move to obtain another at bat, either internally or externally. First, they don’t like moving Ramirez around the infield, even if it’s just one or two games a month. Second, the Indians still seem averse to allowing Chisenhall hit against lefties. If one of these things doesn’t change, they’ll need to keep Erik Gonzalez to provide occasional off days and Jackson to platoon with Chisenhall. There’s certainly an argument to be made that the team would be better off with a less regular player who might not always platoon with Chisenhall, but would always be available to hit against late inning lefties.
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