Cleveland Indians: New arrivals falling short of expectations early

New arrivals to the Cleveland Indians falling short of expectations early

While roster turnover has become a norm in today’s sports world, the Cleveland Indians saw more than the average offseason going into this year. The Tribe moved on from more than a few well known names and made moves to essentially reinvent the roster to save money for the club. The hope was that the moves would welcome new, young talent that would step into roles and keep the team at the top. However, the new arrivals are still catching on.

Luckily, the players who have been in Cleveland a bit longer are helping to turn the offense around in the early going, but the lack of production from the players that were added is a bit concerning. Like any job, it will take time for these players to settle in. As we near the end of April and look to enter the second month of play, that settling in period is coming to a close.

Most of the roster for the Cleveland Indians has been added within the last couple seasons. Even some of the “new arrivals” this offseason are more like homecomings for players that went elsewhere for a few seasons. See Bryan Shaw. The ones that are struggling, though, are the ones that are in their first season ever in the Cleveland organization.

The players that were brought up through the minors are doing well and even Emmanuel Clase who had a season a member of the organization, albeit a suspended one, looks settled in to his role. However, the four players that were added to the roster this past offseason and put on a Tribe uniform for the first time in Spring Training are the ones that are struggling to find their footing early on in the season.

Now, they aren’t alone. There’s others that are having a slow start as well, but these four are falling short of the expectations that they brought with them when they joined the Tribe.

Andres Gimenez

Being one of the first players to contribute from a blockbuster deal that sends away a franchise player and fan favorite is not an easy task. We all knew that Andres Gimenez wasn’t going to be Francisco Lindor, but we did hope he would be doing better than he has so far this season.

During last year’s sample size with the Mets consisting of 49 games, Gimenez looked like a middle of the road offensive player with a strong glove. However, what we’ve come to see from Gimenez through the first month of his tenure in Cleveland has been a far cry from that production.

At the plate, Gimenez slashed .263/.333/.398 during the 2020 campaign for the Mets. So far this year, he’s put up a line of .192/.250/.385. His slugging percentage isn’t too far off, having already logged more doubles and just one fewer home run in 31 less games. However, the batting average and on-base percentage is a bit concerning.

As for in the field, Gimenez committed just two errors all year last season and only one came at shortstop. In 2021, he already has three errors at short.

This might just all be jitters. He won the shortstop job out of Spring Training and was in a new ballpark with a lot of pressure. Regardless, his numbers will have to come up some soon or the questions will start to pile up.

Eddie Rosario

In an offseason where the Cleveland Indians were sending away well known players and fan favorites, the signing of Eddie Rosario was a light during a dark offseason. Rosario seemed to destroy Tribe pitching every time he faced the club and the hope was that would carry over to Progressive Field’s home bench. While Rosario is the better performing player of the three mentioned so far, he still is falling short of the early expectations we had for him.

In Minnesota, Rosario posted numbers on average of .277/.310/.478 for the Twins. This season, he’s around .220/.261/.354 through the first 22 games. Again, small sample size but still something to watch. The difference for Rosario compared to the other two players mentioned before this is that he has had a consistent role in the field. There aren’t nearly as many questions for him going to the ballpark every day.

The good news for Rosario is that it has looked like he’s started to settle in. During this last homestand he logged an RBI in each game against the Yankees and then another in the first game against the Twins for a five-game streak. Those five RBI nearly doubled his season total after having just eight in the 16 games prior.

While he has been a bit underwhelming, Rosario should be able to bounce back and he’s already showing signs of it. With Franmil Reyes and Jose Ramirez starting to heat up, Rosario catching on would be a huge boost to the middle of the batting order.

Trevor Stephan

Being a Rule 5 Draft selection, Trevor Stephan has some added comfort in his role with the Cleveland Indians. A small market team that wants to keep things as cheap as possible, the Tribe won’t be making a move as simple as sending someone down if it could cost them an additional fee. With that being said, Stephan will have to show improvement if he wants to have a role in the bullpen and not become a benchwarmer who’s used only to eat innings in blowouts.

Through six appearances with the Tribe, Stephan has logged nine innings while giving up six runs for an ERA of 6.00. He’s also given up 10 hits while walking four to push his WHIP to 1.56 with just 11 strikeouts. The good news is that his last three outings have been better than his first three.

Over his first three outings, Stephan gave up four runs over four innings with five strikeouts. However, in his last three those numbers have improved a bit to two runs over five innings with six strikeouts. It’s not a big shift, but it’s at least trending in the right direction.

There’s still plenty of time for Stephan to get on track and he’s shown signs of doing that of late. Like the others on this list, it just might take time for him to settle in with a new team, and in his case settle in at the major league level.