Cleveland Indians: 5 internal options to replace Cesar Hernandez at second

Nolan Jones, 3B, Cleveland Indians

So far this season the Columbus Clippers have played Nolan Jones at third base for 43 starts, right field for 20 starts and first base for one. As you can see, second base isn’t listed, so why would he be an internal candidate to replace Cesar Hernandez? Because Jose Ramirez can play second.

Ramirez originally came up as a utility infielder and found his home at third. However, Ramirez has played second plenty in his career and started just shy of 60 games there in 2017 when Gio Urshela and Yandy Diaz were coming up. This could be a similar situation.

While Cleveland is trying to transition their No. 1 prospect to the outfield, playing Jones at his natural position during his MLB debut could be the better option. It takes away some of the nerves and stress of the promotion while putting him in a more familiar spot.

At the dish is where Jones needs to show improvement. Over the last 28 days he’s slashing just .211/.310/.447. Now, the positive is that he has five home runs and 12 RBI. The negative is he has 27 strikeouts over 22 games.

While the hype around Jones might be pushing him to be in Cleveland, he’s simply just not ready. The bat isn’t where it needs to be yet and he doesn’t have a true position open. There’s no sense in rushing his arrival if there isn’t a clear spot for him.