In Urshela We Trust?

There are some questions when discussing exactly who will regularly man third base for the Cleveland Indians in 2016. The most logical choice right now is the slick-fielding Giovanny Urshela, who at age 24 will most likely be given the opportunity to open the season at the position. Yes, a guy like Todd Frazier would have been a huge addition to the Tribe to play third base in 2016, but it didn’t happen. So should the Indians trust a player who at times has suffered through a variety of injuries and is only so-so and maybe even a liability at that plate?

My answer for now is yes, because his fielding alone will greatly enable the Indians to have one of the best defensive infields in the Majors when combined with Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis and Mike Napoli. All four have potential to be in the mix for a Gold Glove.

When you have a team that likely won’t score a lot of runs, the way to counter that is to prevent the other team from scoring a lot of runs. So with a pitching rotation that should rival those considered the best in the Majors, this will have to be the Indians strategy barring any unforeseen trades or free agent signings.

Lindor hit amazingly well during his rookie year after he settled in, but more importantly look at how much better the Indians played in the field after he and Urshela were called up. These moves were also a little bit of addition by subtraction by removing Jose Ramirez as the everyday shortstop and Lonnie Chisenhall from third base and sending them to Columbus, where they both improved and made an impact after returning to Cleveland later in the season.

The counter argument is Urshela is an unproven player who doesn’t provide a ton of offense and only displays a small amount of power at the plate so he isn’t the right kind of guy to man a corner infield position.

I also see the logic in this point, but an exception can be made here because when you look at the makeup of the Indians infield, it’s filled with offense-type players with Lindor, Kipnis and Napoli potentially batting first, second and perhaps fourth in the lineup.

Usually the position of second baseman or shortstop is a little-hitting fielder, so in this case it would be Urshela over at third base who would serve in this capacity as the primarily defensive-minded player. What that said, I’m not entirely convinced that we’ve seen the full potential of Urshela at the plate.

During his first 23 games in 2015, Urshela was hitting .274 with a .321 OBP and two home runs after his first 75 plate appearance in the Majors. Those numbers really aren’t that bad for a guy who was hitting at or near the bottom of the lineup and getting his first taste in the Show.

Urshela eventually started to nosedive at the plate as the season wore on and teams discovered his weaknesses. He finished the season playing in 81 games and had 288 plate appearances. His final slash was .225/.279./.330 eventually turned out to be rather disappointing.

At times, he did look lost at the plate or lacking a bit of confidence, but isn’t that typical of the majority of rookies when they first come to the Big Leagues (Lindor notwithstanding)?

I also think Urshela was rushed a bit to Cleveland because the Indians were simply desperate to get Chisenhall away from third base. His health also was a bit of a question during the season as Urshela was eventually shut down in September because it became clear he was hurting.

I’m wondering how much the injury and pain was contributing to his lack of production at the plate toward the end of the season. It’s hard enough to hit a baseball when healthy, so imagine trying to do it when you’re in pain and trying to compensate. Not exactly a good combination for a young player trying to make his mark.

The Indians have been linked to showing some interested in veteran Juan Uribe to shore up the corner infield spot. I wouldn’t be opposed to a one-year deal to sign him that doesn’t break the bank, such as the $3-5 million range.

Uribe, 37, hit .253/.320/.417 with 14 homers in 397 plate appearances. At this point in his career, he could serve to ease the transition to Urshela on a full-time basis, lessen the pressure on the young player, and provide some insurance if injuries pop up in spring training.

The Indians also have Ramirez in the mix to play at third base and as a super utility player, which I think really is his ideal fit for a team that stresses player versatility.

Ramirez also has great speed and can be used as a pinch runner late in games when needed. I think this energetic player loses value when forced to play the same position every day. I also think he will do a better job in that super utility role than Mike Aviles did in 2015 due to his faster speed and ability to put the ball in play. He can even drop down a sacrifice bunt when the rare occasion calls for it and lead the league in sacrifice hits with 13 in 2014.