Cleveland Indians: Best lineups for the remainder of the season

The Cleveland Indians made a huge waiver splash by adding outfielder Jay Bruce to the lineup. What does this mean for everyone else?

Jay Bruce gives the Cleveland Indians what the team has sorely lacked in the outfield this season: power.

Bruce has 29 home runs, and even though he’s been in a bit of a slump recently, he is having one of the best statistical seasons of this career at age 30.

After leaving the relatively weak NL East, Bruce comes over to the equally weak AL Central, where the Tribe hopes he can launch them into the postseason and to another World Series berth. So, how does Bruce slot in?

Defensive downgrade

Bruce is, by all accounts, a mediocre outfielder. That’s okay though! The Tribe has a secret plan for Bruce. They can play him in left field, where they have a defensive star in Bradley Zimmer in center and a smaller overall area to cover. That’s, of course, until Michael Brantley returns. When Brantley does come back, Bruce will pop over to right field, where he has played most of his career.

Fortunately for the Tribe, they also have the DH route that they can go. Even though Carlos Santana has played minimally in the outfield, a smart guy like Terry Francona will surely find interesting lineup configurations to get his best bats out there. Could we see Santana play some more outfield while Edwin Encarnacion slots in at first and Bruce DH’s? You bet.

Major offensive upgrade

The Cleveland Indians are not hitting for power. At all. Edwin Encarnacion is the only player with more than 20 home runs on the season. Now, the Tribe does not necessarily need to hit for power, they are doing just fine in producing runs without it, but it’s always nice to know that there are one or two guys in the lineup that can go deep at any given moment. Bruce adds that.

Goodbye backup?

Someone between Brandon Guyer, Abraham Almonte and Austin Jackson will not get playing time with Bruce’s addition. With Zimmer playing stellar center field, Lonnie Chisenhall and Michael Brantley bound to come back, and Austin Jackson playing great in his limited role, my guess is that Guyer or Almonte will be left out.

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Focusing just on these two, it makes sense that Almonte is out. The Cleveland Indians could DFA him or simply keep him for the expanded rosters in September as a pinch runner.

He does not offer any benefit over anyone else on the roster. He has a bit of speed, and that’s about it. Guyer has heated up recently, and he’s always a threat to score a winning run by being hit.

Possible lineups

Since Bruce is yet another left-handed hitter, the Cleveland Indians will have to think hard about how to use them and in what lineup configuration. Focusing on the outfield and DH slot, I project the following possibilities (when everyone is healthy).

Against RHP: LF-Brantley, CF-Chisenhall, RF-Bruce, DH-Encarnacion, defensive replacement-Zimmer, pinch hitter-Jackson/Guyer

Against LHP: LF-Brantley, CF-Zimmer, RF-Bruce, DH-Encarnacion, defensive replacement-Jackson, pinch hitter-Chisenhall/Guyer

Brantley’s off day: LF-Bruce, CF-Zimmer, RF-Chisenhall, DH-Encarnacion

Brantley’s off day (v.2): LF-Santana, CF-Zimmer, RF-Chisenhall, DH-Bruce

Terry Special #1: LF-Brantley, CF-Chisenhall, RF-Santana, DH-Bruce

Terry Special #2: LF-Santana, CF-Chisenhall, RF-Guyer/Jackson, DH-Bruce

As far as the order goes, Bruce will likely slide into the #2-5 hole, with the following possibilities.

1. CF-Zimmer, 2. RF-Bruce, 3. SS-Lindor, 4. DH-Encarnacion, 5. 3B-Ramirez, 6. LF-Brantley, 7. 1B-Santana, 8. 2B-Kipnis, 9. C-Gomes

2. 2B-Kipnis, 2. SS-Lindor, 3. LF-Brantley, 4. DH-Encarnacion, 5: RF-Bruce, 6: 3B-Ramirez, 7. 1B-Santana, 8. CF-Chisenhall, 9. C-Gomes

3. 1B-Santana, 2. SS-Lindor, 3. RF-Bruce, 4. DH-Encarnacion, 5. 3B-Ramirez, 6. LF-Brantley, 7. 2B-Kipnis, 8. CF-Zimmer, 9. C-Gomes

Not too bad

As you can see, the Indians are in a better situation today than they were yesterday without Jay Bruce. Instead of forcing Austin Jackson and Abe Almonte into a lot of innings and losing batting order protection for Jose Ramirez, they acquired the perfect fit.

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The best part? They acquired Bruce for what is essentially cash considerations and a 30th-round pick. Not bad Chris. Not too bad at all.