Who might make Tribe's Opening Day roster?

CLEVELAND — It has been a long wait, but Opening Day is now in sight. The Indians will use this final week of Summer Camp to determine who will make up their 30-man roster. After two weeks of the regular season, Cleveland will trim its roster to 28 players, before

CLEVELAND — It has been a long wait, but Opening Day is now in sight.

The Indians will use this final week of Summer Camp to determine who will make up their 30-man roster. After two weeks of the regular season, Cleveland will trim its roster to 28 players, before reaching its normal size of 26 players on Day 29. With just seven days before the Indians host the Royals at Progressive Field for their first of 60 games, let’s take a look at who could fill all 30 spots on July 24.

Catcher (2): Roberto Pérez, Sandy León

There’s no replacing Pérez behind the plate. In his first season as the starting catcher, he was the only backstop to catch more than 100 games without allowing a passed ball. On top of his stellar defense, he tripled his previous career high in home runs last season, with 24. Cleveland acquired León from Boston on Dec. 2, and he will take over the backup duties from Kevin Plawecki, who was non-tendered in December.

First base (1): Carlos Santana

After Santana carried the Indians through their highs and lows in 2019, there isn’t much left to analyze when it comes to his role this year. He’ll be a lock in the Tribe’s lineup, and Jake Bauers or Mike Freeman could be options to fill in for him when he’s given a day off.

Second base (1): César Hernández

Not only did the Indians find their replacement at second base this past offseason after they declined to pick up Jason Kipnis’ $16.5 million option, they have also found their new leadoff hitter. Manager Terry Francona said that it’s likely Francisco Lindor will move down to the third spot in the batting order, replacing him with Hernández at the top of the lineup.

Shortstop (1): Francisco Lindor

The Lindor trade rumors swirled all winter, but Lindor will be the Indians’ Opening Day shortstop for the 2020 season. Cleveland will now have 38 days to determine whether it would want to move Lindor by the Trade Deadline (Aug. 31), which makes it a little more likely that the All-Star shortstop will remain in Cleveland this season.

Third base (1): José Ramírez

In a 60-game season, Ramírez will not have time to get off to a slow offensive start like he did in 2019. He’ll look to continue the momentum he built beginning on June 14, 2019, that lasted through the end of the season, hitting .314 with a 1.031 OPS, 19 homers and 62 RBIs.

Utility (2): Mike Freeman, Christian Arroyo

The first question that’s probably on everyone’s mind is, “Where is Yu Chang?” Chang has certainly been impressive this Summer Camp, launching home runs off of Carlos Carrasco (twice), Zach Plesac, Shane Bieber, Scott Moss and Mike Clevinger in simulated and intrasquad games. But Francona is always quick to clarify that he cannot put a roster together based on the success of players in a few intrasquad games. If Chang is the right fit for the Tribe’s lineup, then he’ll be carried. At this point, Arroyo and Freeman still seem to be better suited for the utility roles.

Outfield (7): Oscar Mercado, Franmil Reyes, Domingo Santana, Tyler Naquin, Jordan Luplow, Bradley Zimmer, Jake Bauers

If you thought the utility situation was tricky, welcome to the outfield. Mercado, Reyes, Santana and Naquin will make the roster. From there, it’s not so simple. Luplow would be in the “lock” category, but back soreness has limited him to just one intrasquad game (as a designated hitter) so far. At this point, we’ll assume he’ll be able to bounce back before Opening Day, but that’s far from promised.

If Luplow is healthy, the Tribe could still have as many as two more outfielders on their 30-man, choosing between Zimmer, Bauers, Greg Allen and Daniel Johnson. Delino DeShields will probably be out of the mix for Opening Day, as he’s just starting to ramp up his baseball activities due to his bout with COVID-19.

Starting pitchers (6): Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, Adam Plutko

Bieber, Clevinger and Carrasco are locked in as the top three starters. Civale, Plesac and Plutko are battling for the final two openings in the five-man rotation. Civale appears to have taken a slight lead, which would put him in at No. 4. This final week will determine who, between Plesac and Plutko, will get the fifth spot and who will move to the bullpen.

Relievers (9): Brad Hand, Nick Wittgren, Oliver Pérez, Adam Cimber, James Karinchak, James Hoyt, Hunter Wood, Phil Maton, Cam Hill

The relief corps will likely consist of 10 arms, with the starter who doesn’t make the rotation moving to the bullpen. Hand, Wittgren, Pérez and Cimber are guarantees, and Karinchak is likely to break camp with the Tribe. The person to watch during these final few days of Summer Camp will be Hill. He hasn’t yet made his Major League debut, but he caught plenty of attention from his teammates and coaching staff during Spring Training.