Cleveland Indians: What Could a Postseason Roster Look Like?

The Catchers

One of the sore spots on the team all season for Cleveland has been its backstops, and this position group presents an interesting quandary for Francona if the club makes the postseason. Roberto Perez, who missed a significant chunk of the year with a broken thumb, appears to finally be rounding into form, and will no doubt be a part of the playoff push.

From there, though, the signal caller situation gets murky. Yan Gomes, who was having an epically awful season at the plate before suffering a dislocated shoulder in mid July, is currently on a minor league rehab assignment and should rejoin the team within the next week to 10 days. Whether he will be physically capable of putting on the catcher’s gear, and whether he will be able to contribute offensively at a level higher than he was before his injury are questions that will have a ripple effect on the roster.

Even before Gomes went down, Chris Gimenez was earning a reputation as a pitcher whisperer of sorts, helping to corral and control Bauer. More recently, he has been catching Salazar and helping to pull him out of his second half funk. While Gimenez isn’t much of an offensive threat, he has put together a better season at the plate than Gomes.

Will Francona carry all three catchers? Or will one of Gomes or Gimenez be staying home? How quickly Gomes comes back to the big league club and how the final three weeks of the regular season play out will help determine the answers to those questions. For now, though, the Indians’ catching unit remains up in the air as it has been for most of the season.

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