Cleveland Indians: 3 players who can start the season at second base

Jose Ramirez is the most logical choice to move over to second base, a position he has played in the past. Ramirez moving over would give Giovanny Urshela, the defensive savant stuck in Triple A, an opportunity to show his skills off early in the season. Ramirez is a pretty good defender, and he broke out last year as a hitter. He is definitely a utility man, and he only stuck at third base because the Tribe cut Juan Uribe.

Urshela has not hit in the bigs, and he has shown that he can defend the position with the best of them. If he can hit in the big leagues, it opens up many opportunities for the Indians to experiment with different lineups, both offensively and defensively. Urshela would also take a ton of pressure off of Kipnis to come back quickly, which can never hurt.

If Ramirez falters at second base, he can always head to the outfield, where he spent most of last year. Both Urshela and Ramirez has big league experience at third and second, respectively, so this would be the “easiest” move.

The challenging aspect of it is moving Ramirez to second base with the intention of moving him back to third base. He would lose out on growth at third if he spends a few weeks or month or so at second to start the season.

Who knows how it might impact his offensive performance. It would make more sense to hang out with Martinez and Gonzalez in a platoon type role, with both knowing that they are not going to be starters. Otherwise, the Indians risk hurting two big league prospects instead of really only one or none.