Cleveland Indians: Terry Francona makes another lineup change

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona saw success with a lineup change on Sunday, and is looking for similar results on Monday with another change.

The Cleveland Indians needed a spark on Sunday after two games of offense that was painful on the eyes.

Thus the wizard manager moved Jason Kipnis into the leadoff spot in place of Carlos Santana. While some criticized the move before the game, Kipnis responded with a 4-for-5 day, which included two home runs.

Francona is looking for some similar results with another change before tonight’s game.

Edwin Encarnacion will appear in the fifth spot tonight after being the cleanup hitter up to this point. It is a subtle move, as he only moves down one spot, but hopefully it will give him some sort of spark.

This move slides Jose Ramirez down to sixth, giving the bottom half of the lineup a dominant bat.

Santana is now the cleanup hitter, and he is also in search of some success on offense. He has had his moments, but is still hitting just .228 with four home runs on the season. If a move worked for Kipnis, hopefully the same will come true for Santana.

Some bad news did come out from the team today, as another player has gone down with an injury.

Brandon Guyer was not off to a great start, but his injury brings up further questions in the outfield. It may result in Yandy Diaz getting more time, or perhaps a return to the big league club for Tyler Naquin.

Regardless, there are going to be plenty of different lineups seen by fans over the coming months.

Today’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays will be a test for this new lineup, as Chris Archer is on the mound for the Rays. The Indians will be featuring Carlos Carrasco, who has emerged as the ace, but that has not mattered in several of his starts this year when the team has still struggled to score. Add in Archer and today’s game is another test for this group.

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But a big game from the Indians could be enough to get things moving in the right direction, and help some players break out of their slumps. It is wishful thinking, but sometimes it only takes one game for a player to embark on an impressive run for the remainder of the season.