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Inbox: How will Tribe sort out OF, rotation?

Matt Demczyk

CLEVELAND — We’re no longer in the double-digits. Opening Day is just nine days away, but after only two weeks of on-field practices, the Indians have a lot of roster decisions to iron out before the regular season gets under way. What will the outfield look like? How many pitchers

CLEVELAND — We’re no longer in the double-digits. Opening Day is just nine days away, but after only two weeks of on-field practices, the Indians have a lot of roster decisions to iron out before the regular season gets under way.

What will the outfield look like? How many pitchers will the team carry? Let’s take a look in this week’s Inbox.

Not only is the Indians’ situation tricky because they have 10 outfielders on the 40-man roster, now they’re having to deal with injuries and illnesses that could force them to make last-minute decisions. You can expect to see Oscar Mercado, Franmil Reyes, Domingo Santana and Tyler Naquin on the Opening Day roster. Assuming Jordan Luplow’s sore back doesn’t cause him to miss the start of the season, he’ll be a lock, too, but he’s not expected to get back into the intrasquad lineup until the end of this week, at the absolute earliest.

For argument’s sake, let’s say Luplow will be good to go. That will mean the Indians have five guaranteed outfielders on the 30-man. Depending on how they build their roster, two more outfielders could make the team. Delino DeShields was originally a lock, but because of his bout with COVID-19, he isn’t expected to be game-ready by July 24. In that case, those two spots would go to either Jake Bauers, Greg Allen, Bradley Zimmer or Daniel Johnson. All four are in a very close race, but at this point the best guess would have Bauers and Zimmer making the team. But because the race is so close, that answer could easily change by tomorrow.

A six-man rotation could be something they consider, especially because they have six solid starters, but they probably will want to get the ball to Shane Bieber as many times as they can. It seems more likely that they will use a five-man rotation right out of the gate.

Bieber, Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco — assuming they stay healthy — are the top three starters, leaving Adam Plutko, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac to battle for the last two vacancies. At this point, Civale seems to be the frontrunner, which would pencil him in at No. 4. Plutko and Plesac have nine days to fight for the fifth spot; whoever doesn’t make the rotation will likely head to the bullpen.

Manager Terry Francona hasn’t specified an exact number just yet, but he did mention the idea of having 15 pitchers when Summer Camp first started. That’s probably the most likely scenario, which would mean five starters, with 10 guys in the ‘pen.

Aside from Bieber, who already looks like he’s in midseason form, it’s hard to name anyone other than Yu Chang. The Tribe’s No. 21 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, made his presence known from the moment Summer Camp started. In a week’s span, he launched homers off Carrasco (twice), Plesac, Bieber and Scott Moss in either intrasquad or simulated games.

Clearly, Chang has had a great two weeks of camp thus far, but the Indians are constantly clarifying that they don’t make their roster decisions based solely on a player’s performance in a few intrasquad games. And with Mike Freeman and Christian Arroyo both in contention, it seems more likely that the team will carry those two over Chang. That’s not to say Chang has no chance, but he probably hasn’t become the favorite in the utility race just yet.

Johnson has also had a solid camp, and was named the MVP of one of the intrasquad games last week. Because DeShields is questionable for Opening Day, Johnson’s chances of making the roster are much higher. But because he has no Major League experience, the team will have to determine whether carrying Bauers, Allen or Zimmer over him would be a better choice for such a short season.

Everyone not on the 30-man roster (but in the 60-man player pool) will head to Lake County to work out and play intrasquad scrimmages to stay ready. They could be called on at any point in the season and could be carried on the three-player taxi squad during road trips.

After testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs while baseball was suspended due to COVID-19, Emmanuel Clase remained in the Dominican Republic and is expected to stay there during the season. Pitching coach Carl Willis said that the team has been in contact with Clase to make sure that he can continue to develop at home despite missing the full season, but he will not rejoin the team until 2021.

Mandy Bell covers the Indians for MLB.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MandyBell02.

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