Cleveland Indians: An exciting potential September call-up

The Cleveland Indians will see their roster expand at the beginning of September and one player stands out as an interesting potential call-up.

The Cleveland Indians are about to get some reinforcements next week when MLB rosters expand to up to 40 players.

Since the Indians are contending we may not see too many players added, but there will still be a few new faces on the field. One of those should be Eric Haase.

Haase is a catcher at Triple-A Columbus and was listed as a potential call-up to know in an article on MLB.com going through each team’s potential September moves.

For those who have never heard of him, his success behind the plate is why it was a bit easier to feel confident after trading Francisco Mejia.

Haase has spent the entire season in Columbus and is slashing .231/.284/.430 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs. This comes after a 2017 season in which he slashed .260/.352/.578, mostly in Double-A Akron.

At this point it doesn’t seem like anyone who would come up would have a chance at making the postseason roster. That is especially true for Haase, as Terry Francona is not about to switch up the catchers right before the postseason. That could mess with the pitching staff, and Yan Gomes should be starting every game anyway.

Haase is blocked by the fact both Gomes and Roberto Perez are under contract for a few more years. But if he can come up and do well on offense in limited action, he can set himself up to compete with Perez for the backup job in 2019. Although another year in Columbus may be what ultimately happens at the start of the season due to the contract situations.

Mejia was the catcher everyone talked about but Haase has been around for some time and has put up solid career numbers in the organization. September may be the month when he finally makes a name for himself as someone who needs to be under consideration for a job in 2019.