Pitchers and catchers report in just 9 days! Now that the league for the soon-to-be-brain-damaged is over, baseball fans can finally rejoice in the fact the first signs of spring are finally upon us. With that comes the joy that is America’s favorite pastime.
The majority of the Indians’ roster is already set with the familiar names holding down the core, but some of the remaining spots are yet to be decided and could be filled by one of the non-roster invitees the Indians signed during the off-season. Much of the team’s off-season focus over the past few seasons has been to sign reclamation projects to minor league deals with the hope that they can return to their former glory and aid the team in a potential playoff push. This was the case with Scott Kazmir, Scott Atchison, and Gavin Floyd. Kazmir and Atchison (in 2014) were immensely successful in their short stints with the team, while Floyd represents the exact kind of risk that is attendant to these types of signings. This year the Indians will hope to repeat the successes of Kazmir and Atchison with a new batch of non-roster invitees.
This year’s batch of invitees are mostly pitchers and don’t be surprised if a few of the bullpen arms wind up on the Opening Day roster.
Joba Chamberlain
Chamberlain may be the biggest name of any of the invitees this year. Joba is coming off a down season spent playing for three different teams. In 2015 he appeared in just 27 games, posting a 4.88 ERA, up 1.30 points from his 2014 output. It wasn’t just his ERA that was up in 2015, his numbers were up across the board. His K/9 rate dropped from 8.43 in 2014 to 7.48 in 2015 and his HR/9 increased from 0.43 in 2014 to 1.95 in 2015. Chamberlain is only 2 seasons removed from a very successful 2014 campaign. If he is capable of coming anywhere near his performance that season the Indians would be getting an absolute steal.
Craig Stammen
The once stellar Washington Nationals reliever is coming off an injury to his throwing arm that cost him all but 5 games of the 2015 season. Before that, Stammen was a workhorse in the Nationals bullpen, pitching 72.2, 81.2, and 88.1 innings in 2014, 2013, and 2012. With that type of workload it’s not surprising that he succumb to injuries in 2015. The Stammen signing could prove to pay off big time if he can return to health, from 2012-2014 he posted ERAs of 2.34, 2.76 and 3.84 respectively.
Ross Detwiler
Sticking with former Nationals, Detwiler will be battling for a potential long-reliever spot in the Tribe ‘pen. Detwiler has played 8 seasons in the big leagues, all with fairly mediocre results. For his career, Detwiler has posted a 4.20 ERA with just 5.54 K/9 while issuing 3.23 BB/9. The former 6th overall pick has plenty of potential but has yet to live up to the billing. As a lefty he adds a bit of intrigue to the competition, but he still has a lot of impressing to do before he grabs hold of a permanent roster spot.
Joe Thatcher
Thatcher presents perhaps the most interesting case for a potential roster spot come opening day. Thatcher is coming off a successful season in 2015 with the Astros and it comes as a bit of a surprise that he was acquired on a minor league contract. For his career, Thatcher has posted a 3.38 ERA with an equally great 3.19 FIP. He’s always had a knack for missing bats, to the tune of a 9.32 career K/9 rate. The southpaw could foreseeably take the spot vacated by Marc Rzepczynski midway through last season.
Best Of The Rest (Pitchers)
The Tigers’ best batting practice pitcher, Tom Gorzelanny, will be receiving an invite to spring training for the Tribe. Gorzelanny is coming off 5.95 ERA season so he has a long way to go before he’s ahead of some of the other arms. In a similar vein, Felipe Paulino will have a chance to catch on with the big league club despite a less than stellar track record.
Joseph Colon, Jarrett Grube, Adam Plutko, and Will Roberts, have all spent time (or are still spending time) in the Indians’ organization and will begin Spring Training with the big boys. Plutko and Roberts are the most highly regarded of the two, with Plutko being the far favorite of the two. Neither will begin the season in Cleveland, but Plutko could potentially see time in a spot start role should injuries rear their ugly head like last year.
Robbie Grossman
While there are a number of intriguing pitchers who have received invites, there are fewer position players who stand a reasonable chance of making the 25-man roster. Grossman has spent the last few seasons with the Astros organization, mostly as a backup outfielder. With the depth the Indians have in the outfield it seems unlikely Grossman will see any time in Cleveland.
Shane Robinson
Like Grossman, Robinson has served the majority of his big league career as a fourth outfielder. Also like Grossman, it seems unlikely that he’ll see any real time in Cleveland unless the big league club is riddled with injuries. The plus side for Robinson is his above average defense which plays into the Tribe’s more defensive-minded focus this year.
Michael Choice
Choice is probably the most interesting of the position player invitees. The former 10th overall pick hasn’t lived up to billing thus far in his career and, in fact, he hasn’t shown the promise that made him a top ten pick since 2013. But his potential is unquestioned and should he finally be able to put it together he could provide some needed pop to the Indians lineup.
Michael Martinez
Martinez spent all of last season with the Indians, the majority of that time being in Columbus with a few games in Cleveland. At 33 years old Martinez is far from a prospect and it’s not likely he’ll provide any meaningful help to the big league club, but he does have major league experience and the Indians don’t have much infield depth that is near major league readiness just yet.
Anthony Recker
Like Martinez, Recker has major league experience at a position that is susceptible to injuries. Recker hasn’t had a lot of success in his major league stints thus far, but he has a decent amount of pop in his bat and he grades out as a solid defender.
Best Of The Rest (Hitters)
Adam Moore spent time with the Clippers last season and was a fairly good hitter. The problem is he’s 31 and stuck behind Roberto Perez and Yan Gomes. His role is that of an insurance policy. Todd Hankins had a tremendous season in Akron last year and will likely begin the year in Columbus. His positional flexibility makes him a valuable asset in the minors, but I have concerns about his bat playing at higher levels. He could see time with the big league club should injuries require him to. Eric Stamets came over last year in the David Murphy trade but has done little in his career thus far to get excited about.
It’s no surprise that there are more interesting pitchers who have been given non-roster invites this spring. The Indians value pitching depth, and for good reason. We saw first hand how quickly a team can go from very deep at one position to hurting for bodies when they had to call on Cody Anderson, who began the year at AA, to step into the starting rotation in 2015. The beauty of all of these types of signings is that the present virtually no risk at all. The money spent on these players is a fraction of what could be spent on your typical free agent acquisition and as we’ve seen in the past, these moves can pay off big time. Question now becomes which one of these guys has a chance to be the Indians’ next Scott Kazmir?
Check back tomorrow as we take our first look at the potential 25 man roster and see where these players could fit in.
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