Cleveland Indians: Three surprising prospects who could debut in 2021

Tyler Freeman

The Cleveland Indians have spent the last year or so piling up middle infield prospects to prepare for the departure of Francisco Lindor, but the best of the bunch has been in-house for much longer than a year. Tyler Freeman, currently the No. 2 prospect in the organization, might be the long-term answer for the Indians at either short or second.

Freeman was the second round pick for the Indians during the 2017 MLB Draft and thanks to no minors in 2020 has only played 231 professional games. Despite that, Freeman might have just enough experience to pop up on the Cleveland roster at some point during the 2021 season.

The Indians thought enough of Freeman to bring him into the summer camp leading into the restart of the 2020 season and those same thoughts could give him a boost. He probably isn’t “supposed” to debut until 2022, but that might change as the year goes on.

Over his 231 games in the minors, Freeman has been able to slash .319/.379/.441 along with 70 doubles, nine triples and seven home runs. He’s also been able to swipe 38 bases while driving in 96 runs.

If he can sustain those numbers beyond High-A in 2021, then he could really progress quickly towards the majors and a potential debut during the upcoming season.