Cleveland Indians: Position Preview for 2021, Outfield

Cleveland Indians Position Preview for 2021, Outfield

While the Cleveland Indians have had success over the last few seasons, one glaring area of need during the span of good fortune has been the outfield. Outside the play of Michael Brantley in 2017 and 2018, the outfield in Cleveland has been questionable at best. However, a combination of moves and timing on prospects could change the forecast at the position in the upcoming season.

The front office has made it a point to continuously add help in the outfield in an effort to pinpoint some sort of consistent play from the position. Of the nine players who could be in the mix to play in the outfield this season, at least four have been added through trades over the last few seasons and the signing of Eddie Rosario could be the final piece to the puzzle.

Now, the results won’t be immediate. There’s still a lot of question marks, but adding Rosario gives the Indians at least one solid outfield contributor, which is more than they’ve had the last few seasons. The key for the outfield unit during the 2021 season, will be getting all three pieces to work not only at the same time, but consistently. Those two areas have been lacking the past few seasons.

Luckily, the Cleveland Indians are already ahead of the curve a bit with the players they have in place. Going into the season we have a decent grasp on who should be starting, or at least getting majority of the playing time. In the past, it was an all out guessing game.

While trading Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco seemed questionable at the time, the recent moves have affirmed that this isn’t going to be a throw away season in Cleveland. Success could come differently, but adding much needed help in the outfield will play a big role in determining how the 2021 season pans out.

Josh Naylor

Coming to Cleveland in the Mike Clevinger trade this past season, the Indians were given a little of taste of what could come from Josh Naylor in the future. He had a slow start, but caught on as the season progressed and could be a steady start in either corner outfield spot.

During the postseason last year, Naylor was 5-for-7 at the plate over two games, knocking a home run, three doubles and logging three RBI. Those numbers served as a much needed show of improvement after he hit just .230/.277/.279 after joining the Tribe after the trade.

In the field, Naylor played in 19 games in left field and was at first twice. In left, he was a perfect 23-for-23 on chances in the field and that seems to be consistent throughout his career. In left, Naylor has just three errors in more than 380 innings played.

Currently just 23-years old, Naylor has a bright future ahead of him in Cleveland and the 2021 season will be a big part of his progression. He has yet to play a full major league season with one team, being called up in 2019 and traded in 2020. The 2021 season will be very telling as to how he can perform over a full season and what the Indians should expect moving forward from their young left fielder.

Oscar Mercado

Perhaps the biggest unknown and wild card piece to the outfield of the Cleveland Indians in 2021 is Oscar Mercado. If Mercado plays well, then there’s a strong chance that the Indians could have three solid and productive outfielders. If he falls short of expectations, then the center field position could be a rotating door once again.

Mercado had a breakout campaign in 2019, but splitting time with Delino DeShields Jr. last season disrupted his stat line and saw his numbers slouch, resulting in a brief demotion to the taxi squad. If Mercado can return to his 2019 form that gained him Rookie of the Year consideration, then this could be one of the more promising outfields for the Indians in long time.

At 26-years old, there’s still a lot of time for Mercado to find his rhythm. During the 2019 season, Mercado was able to slash .269/.318/.443, which is more than serviceable. What he did with those opportunities was just as impressive. His stat line from the season included 15 stolen bases, 15 home runs, 25 doubles and 54 RBI.

However, this past season those numbers dipped heavily. His slash line became .128/.174/.174. He had just one double and one home run and only three stolen bases. The sample size was much smaller at just 36 games, but it’s a bit of a red flag regardless.

Franmil Reyes

While he rarely plays in the field, Franmil Reyes is technically an outfielder and has the ability to play in the field if needed. With the Cleveland Indians, Reyes has played a total of four games in the outfield, but he does have a perfect fielding percentage over those games.

Even if Reyes isn’t really much of an outfielder, you can’t ignore him when talking about the young core of the Indians. At just 25-years old, Reyes provides a strong power bat in the lineup. His fielding isn’t the best, but if he would have to play in the outfield he could alright.

What Josh Naylor was to the 2020 season, Franmil Reyes was to the 2019 season. Joining the Indians via trade with the Padres, Reyes had a slower start, but was able to better showcase his potential this past season. Reyes slashed an improved .275/.344/.450 during the 2020 season while also blasting nine home runs and tallying 34 RBI.

If Reyes can carry over his momentum from the 2020 season into 2021, then the Indians middle of the lineup could become very dangerous very fast. Between the potential of Reyes and Naylor, along with the addition of Rosario, there’s a lot of home runs that could be had from that group alone.

Bench Depth

The starting trio in the outfield is much improved for the Indians on the surface, but should one of those players be injured or start to regress, then the Tribe need someone in waiting that can take over and produce. Luckily, they should have plenty of options.

From the right-side of the plate, there’s currently two options on the 40-man roster that the Tribe could turn to and both are former high-rated prospects who just haven’t panned out. Bradley Zimmer and Jordan Luplow could both be options in the outfield, at the plate, or on the bases. They each could still have a flash left, but they’ll have to earn their chances.

As for the left-side of the plate there are two clear options and one sleeper. The clear options are Jake Bauers and Daniel Johnson. Both have been given opportunities at the major league level, albeit short especially for Johnson. The other wild card of the bunch could end up being top prospect Nolan Jones. Jones has been rumored to be in the outfield mix, along with first base, after being roadblocked at third base.

The nice thing going into this season is that the Indians don’t need to find three starters among this group like in the past. At least one spot in the outfield is set with Rosario and hopefully another with Naylor. These are just depth options.