Cleveland Indians: 5 Position Players with the Most to Prove this Spring

Yan Gomes

Yan Gomes is the player with the most to prove in 2017.

After two straight dismal, injury-ridden seasons, Gomes will come into 2017 with a clean bill of health and a fresh start.

In 2014, Gomes was one of the most promising young backstops in MLB.

Gomes is still one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. He has incredible arm talent and a pick-off move to first that managers dream of. He also manages one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and maximizes all of their abilities.

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It is his bat, however, that needs to start producing.

In 2015, Gomes produced a .231/.267/.391 slash line across 95 games. In 2016, he slashed .167/.201/.327 in 74 games.

To this point, it appears that Gomes will be the primary catcher, while Roberto Perez, an equally talented defensive catcher, will work with one or two starters exclusively.

If Gomes wants to keep his starting role and keep the Indians from shopping for a trade deadline upgrade, he will have to get back to his Silver Slugger ways of 2014. The team cannot go into the offseason with a near guaranteed out in the lineup like it did last year.

Hopefully he has a short memory, because he, like the rest of us, would like to forget the past two seasons and move on to better times.