On Tuesday, September 1, the MLB roster capacity will expand from 25 to 40. This will give the Indians, and every other major league baseball team, the ability to add to their active roster.
As it sits right now, the Indians have 41 men listed on their 40 man roster. However, because Gavin Floyd and Nick Hagadone are on the team’s 60-Day disabled list, they do not count against that number.
Even though the roster limit will be expanding, the Indians do not have to have 40 men on the active roster, and it is likely that the Tribe will stay below that number.
It has already been announced that both Floyd and Chris Johnson will be activated on Tuesday from the DL.
Floyd was on the 60-Day DL following a fractured bone in his elbow before the season began, and Johnson will be activated from the 15-Day DL after a spider bite in a Minneapolis hotel room forced him to be sidelined.
Both Floyd and Johnson spent time rehabbing this past week at AA Akron.
Floyd, rehabbing from his third career elbow surgery, had good things to say about his elbow. “It’s been feeling great ever since I’ve started throwing. It feels really strong. It’s nice to actually get into games and get in situations and scenarios that you can’t replicate in bullpens. It feels really good.”
Johnson, is excited to get back to the big league club, and feels good about his infected finger.
“Feels good, I feel fine. I got bit by something and had a bad allergic reaction. It’s just one of those fluke things.” said Johnson. He also agreed that his spider bite was one of the weirdest Cleveland sports injuries in recent memory.
Aside from those two that have already been announced, there seems to be speculation regarding the other spots that will become available.
A few names to keep an eye on include C.C. Lee, Michael Choice, Zach Walters, Tyler Holt, Shawn Armstrong, and Jesus Aguilar. A name missing from this list that many would like to see is Tyler Naquin.
Naquin was just recently placed on the Columbus Clippers 7-Day DL with a hip issue and it is likely he will not be called up to the MLB level for September.
Among the names listed, all of them have played at the major league level, and Choice is the only one yet to make his Indians debut.
If all of the names listed are called up, that would set the Indians active roster to 33 players.
It will be very interesting to see how the roster is balanced with the mix of call ups and regulars. With the Indians finishing off a five game sweep of their home stand against Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Angels, they find themselves fighting for their playoff lives as September begins.
Obviously, in certain spots, the call ups will be of much help to Tito and company, but how often will they be able to contribute as the team just now seems to have put it together.
Lee, Armstrong and Floyd would all pitch from the bullpen.
Choice and Holt will fill in as the fifth and sixth outfield options, which means there should be no reason that Mike Aviles or Jose Ramirez play the outfield for the remainder of this season, and for that Tribe fans should be thankful.
Aguilar will fight for time at first base with Johnson and Carlos Santana, and Walters will move around the rest of the infield.
Aside from Naquin, another guy that fans might be disappointed to hear will not be making the trip up to Cleveland is Bradley Zimmer.
While Zimmer is having a very good year with Carolina and more recently Akron, he is nowhere near ready for the big league level. An appearance next season, or in 2017 is much more likely for the outfielder.
It will be interesting to see who is called up come Tuesday, and how accurate this is. Seeing how the roster is managed will be even more interesting than that.
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