Cleveland Indians: Five players to watch in Double-A or below

Gabriel Arias

Coming to Cleveland as part of the Mike Clevinger trade, Gabriel Arias is one player that has the potential to either start in Columbus or arrive there after a short stint at a lower level. He’s currently at the alternate site, but having yet to play a game above High-A could push the club to give him more experience at Double-A before a higher promotion.

We got to see a little glimpse of Arias during Spring Training this season and he looked the way a team’s No. 5 prospect should. He only played in eight games with 13 at-bats, but with those limited opportunities he was still able to log eight hits, including one double and five RBI, to finish with a slash line of .615/.615/.692.

With Andres Gimenez having a bit of an unsteady start to the season, the door could be cracked open for Arias to make his major league debut at some point in 2021. Since he is already on the 40-man roster, it wouldn’t take an additional move to get Arias to Cleveland like it might for other players.

Like I said, Arias has yet to play beyond High-A, but if he can impress early on in the minor league season he could be a candidate to take over at shortstop if Gimenez continues to struggle.