Cleveland Indians: Potential replacements at first base for Carlos Santana

Josh Naylor

While Josh Naylor has been an outfielder by trade during his major league career, he has explored the possibility of moving to first base. During the 2020 season, he played five games at first, being three in San Diego and two in Cleveland, totaling nine error-free innings at the position.

For Naylor, his ability to play first will most likely just provide flexibility to the lineup rather than a long-term answer. The Indians’ outfield has been a mess the last couple years and finding any type of solid play at the position has been difficult. For Naylor, he is more valuable in the outfield than at first.

The Indians will have other options at first base beyond Naylor, which makes it seem like he will stay in the outfield. However, should the other options fall through then Naylor could be given a chance.

It wouldn’t be shocking for the Indians to play him at first during Spring Training to gain a larger sample size of his play at the position heading into the season. It will really just come down to how others on the team are playing and which position can do better without Naylor, allowing him to play the other.