Cleveland Indians: Breaking down the Tribe’s Opening Day roster

Breaking down the Opening Day roster for the Cleveland Indians

The 2021 Major League Baseball season is upon us! While we won’t start the season 100% normal, it’s a step in the right direction from where we were during the 2020 season. Having Opening Day in April alone is a positive point over last season. With the news of the season beginning, we finally have an outlook for the roster that the Cleveland Indians will begin with during the 2021 campaign.

While any roster decisions are sure to grab attention, this offseason for the Tribe left us with more questions than a typical year. In Goodyear we saw answers to some of those questions, but others were left up to speculation for the moment. As season progresses we’ll hopefully be presented the answers, but we at least have limited options now based upon what we see on the roster.

Entering Spring Training we had a good grasp on majority of the starting rotation, catcher, second, third and the designated hitter. Beyond that, there were question marks almost everywhere else. Some positions were in better light than others, but unknowns still remained.

In the outfield we knew of a new names, but where they would wind up was still a bit of a mystery while center was still up in the air. A few other positions, being shortstop and first base, had a short list, but it was anyone’s race at the beginning of spring.

With the roster set, we have a much better grasp and can start to see the season form in front of us. There’s some clear strengths of this team and some clear weaknesses as well. Nevertheless, this season should be an exciting one for the Cleveland Indians. Going through the roster by position group, we start with one the team’s assumed strengths, the starting rotation, headlined by the defending American League Cy Young.