Cleveland Indians: Who will be left out in the outfield?

The Cleveland Indians have too many outfielders for someone not to be left out. Who will it be?

The Cleveland Indians have a solid rotation of five outfielders with Lonnie Chisenhall off the disabled list, which resulted in Tyler Naquin being sent to Triple-A Columbus for the time being. There is not enough time to get every guy who needs consistent play playing time.

I am not including Austin Jackson or Brandon Guyer in this post because they are both role players who are not going to be fighting for a starting spot and regular playing time.

This article focuses on three men, Lonnie Chisenhall, Abraham Almonte, and Tyler Naquin. With Carlos Santana and Yandy Diaz both looking at getting some outfield playing time when Jason Kipnis returns, you have to assume Terry Francona is going to go with the solid hitter over the solid fielder.

What does that mean for these three guys? I will break down the case against each one and offer an opinion on who is going to get left out either through trade or demotion.

The case against Lonnie Chisenhall

Oh Lonnie. Talk about a guy who looks like he is 15-years old and has had a pretty crazy career. Lonnie was the third baseman of the future when he was a 22-year old top-prospect in 2011. He has never had a lot of power, hit particularly well for average, or had any sort of speed. But, the Indians needed a third baseman, and he was the best third baseman that they could muster.

For three excruciating years, Lonnie went up and down between Triple-A and Cleveland, hitting okay and doing okay in general. Then, in 2014, he broke out, batting .280 with 13 home runs after he started the year absolutely on fire.

Then, in 2015, the Indians realized his third base defense was just not good enough, and they had a hole in right field. Low and behold, Lonnie Chisenhall has been a pretty good right fielder! He also hit .286 last year, doing what a bottom-of-the-order person should do.

He can (not will, but can) play third base in a pinch. Lonnie has played a few games at first base. He is primarily a right fielder because he has an incredibly strong arm. He hits perfectly well.

The problem with Lonnie is that he is just ordinary. He does not excel at anything. He is not going to wow anyone. Chisenhall got worse and worse as the playoffs dragged on. He is the kind of guy who could be passed up without anyone really noticing.

The case against Abraham Almonte

If Lonnie Chisenhall has had a strange career, Abraham Almonte has had an eerie career. Almonte has off-the-field issues plaguing him, and the Tribe can only hope that those issues stay off the field this year and do not hinder his performance. Almonte is actually a really quality player.

Even though he looks old, Almonte is still only 28. The Indians are his third team in his short five-season career. Almonte is a career .250 hitter, and he hit .264 in his 51 and 67 games for the Indians in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

He started to really come on late, but was ineligible for the 2017 postseason due to his substance abuse violation. Could he have made the difference? Would Almonte have hit where Michael Martinez did? No one will know, but you can bet that put a fire under him.

Defensively, Almonte can play all three outfield positions, and he has for the Indians. He’s a true utility outfielder, has speed, and can handle the stick just fine. A minus defender in Seattle his first season, he came on late in 2014, especially in center field, to become a quality defender.

While he does not steal a lot of bases, he can definitely run as he hit five triples for the Indians in 2015 in just 51 games. The case against Mr. Almonte is his character and off-field issues. If he can manage his character, he is at worst the Indians fourth outfielder, and at best, a starter.

The case against Tyler Naquin

I left Tyler Naquin last for a reason. Tyler Naquin’s 2016 breakout party did not last. The Tribe tagged Naquin with the 15th pick in the 2012 draft out of Texas A&M. He is still only 26 years old and had a pretty incredible 2016, where he hit almost .300 with 14 home runs (power that he did not show in the minors). He played really bad defense, rating as one of the worst center fielders in the majors last year by all metrics.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Naquin seems like he can hit, though. In trouncing the minor leagues, he averaged .295 and about 15 steals per year from 2012-2015. He strikes out a lot, but if he can hit for some power and good average, that matters less. He is never going to reach the top of the lineup anyway.

The biggest problem, other than his defense, is his average of balls batted in play (BABIP). BABIP is a statistic used to measure how lucky someone is. By all accounts, Naquin had a lucky 2016 where he had a completely unsustainable .411 BABIP. He led the league by almost 30 points.

Tyler Naquin regressed quickly to the median for BABIP, and his batting average dropped to .235. He rates out about the same as Chisenhall in all metrics, except Chisenhall plays a better right field than Naquin plays center field. Putting Naquin in right or left might be an option, but only if he is hitting.

The prediction

My not-so-bold prediction is that Tyler Naquin remains off the roster for the rest of the season. Chisenhall is back and doing well in center field. Almonte is playing well, hitting and playing a good right field.

I envision an outfield lineup that looks something like: LF – Brantley, CF – Chisenhall, RF – Almonte, with Guyer subbing in for Chisenhall and Brantley against left-handed pitching and Austin Jackson sitting as the fifth outfielder once Kipnis comes back.

Top-prospect Bradley Zimmer could easily replace Almonte or Chisenhall if either falters. If Zimmer comes up and does well, then Naquin is definitely out. Zimmer likely will get called up and get a shot before Naquin does again.

Next: Bauer limits the damage in a great outing

The Cleveland Indians’ future looks better with Zimmer anyway. Long live the 2016 masher Tyler Naquin. Sorry that the future is bright without you.