Cleveland Indians: 3 Columbus Clippers who could be called up this season

Cleveland Indians: 3 Columbus Clippers who could make their major league debut

The Cleveland Indians made a statement at the 2021 MLB trade deadline. It was a pretty weak statement in all honesty, met with confusion and frustration by much of the fanbase as the Tribe salary-dumped Eddie Rosario and sent Cesar Hernandez to the White Sox in a one-for-one swap. Cleveland appears to be content with the talent in-house looking ahead to 2022, namely the return of a fully healthy Big Three and the stable of infielders in the high-minors.

The concept of spending money seems foreign right now given the team’s behavior this past offseason, guiding payroll to bottom-three in all of baseball, but Cleveland will be poised to spend (reasonably) this coming winter. The Tribe definitely have a type when in comes to free agents, but they could absolutely bolster the outfield while reinforcing the infield and pitching from within, all while maintaining an objectively affordable payroll.

However, this is all speculation best saved for the slow, dry baseball-devoid winter months after the World Series. The Indians have something more productive on the horizon in just a few weeks, and the team has a plethora of options for September call-ups when the roster expands to 28 players for the remainder of the season.

Cleveland has rotated their fair share of high-minors pitching in 2021 to compensate for all the injuries, so September roster expansion figures to be exclusively position players, likely multiple infielders. The Indians have a surplus specifically of middle-infielders, so whether call-ups are used to showcase some trade bait for this coming winter or to prepare guys for big league roles in 2022 is yet to be determined, but here are several that could get the call on September 1st.

Oscar Gonzalez, OF, Cleveland Indians

The Indians are not nearly as deep in the minors with outfield talent as they are infielders, and the prospects the team does have high hopes for are mostly Double-A and lower. Recent promotion Richard Palacios is the only other top 30 outfield prospect according to MLB.com currently in Triple-A with Daniel Johnson, so it’s somewhat surprising the first choice for the outfield is outside the top 30 list. Cleveland fans, meet Oscar Gonzalez.

Gonzalez signed with the Indians as a member of the 2014 international class, and has worked his way to Triple-A Columbus at just 23-years-old. The best news about him? Gonzalez has been a hitting machine at almost every level of the minors in his six-year pro career.

He has a career slash line of .282/.311/.435 across all levels of the Tribe organization, and a .311/.347/.544 slash line in 2021 split between Akron and Columbus.

The other good news about Gonzalez? Unlike some other outfielders in recent memory in The Land, Gonzalez has mashed both right and left-handed pitching in his time in the minors. He has an excellent track record his entire pro career, but so far has hit .314 against righties and .293 against Southpaws in 2021. Coming in at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, there’s plenty of power to be packed into a frame that’s already hit 110 doubles and 53 home runs in the minors.

To further build on his hitting prowess, Gonzalez currently leads the entire farm system in hits, home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage. If there’s an area to watch with Gonzalez, it’s a 23.3% strikeout rate paired with just a 3.7% walk rate, pointing to a player that makes a ton of contact, but needs some patience at the plate.

He’s played just 22 games with the Clippers this season, so it may be premature to throw him to the wolves this September, but we’ve seen the alternatives outside of Harold Ramirez this year. He couldn’t possibly be any worse.

Gabriel Arias, INF, Cleveland Indians

So far, in a very limited sample size, it would appear the Cleveland Indians are the early winners of the 2020 Mike Clevinger trade. Josh Naylor showed plenty of flashes this season before a gruesome leg injury, and Cal Quantrill turned a corner in July and blossomed into an actual major league caliber starting pitcher. The book is still out on Logan Allen, but the next player to tip the scales of this trade is Gabriel Arias.

Arias didn’t play in 2020 like most minor-leaguers, but upon arriving with Cleveland this spring he jumped from High-A ball in the Padres system all the way to Triple-A Columbus at just 21-years old. He’s primarily a shortstop with plenty of experience at the hot corner, and even a handful of games logged at second base.

Arias’ defense has come a long way in a relatively short time after committing 67 errors between rookie ball and High-A in the Padres system to registering just 10 so far in Triple-A.

His bat has also been developing nicely as the Triple-A season has progressed, slashing his way to a .280/.357/.451 line after an abysmal May to begin the year. He’s chipped in 14 doubles and nine home runs in 72 games this season, doing most of the damage in July where he slashed .310/.361/.520 in 26 games.

For Arias to transition from High-A to Triple-A after not playing all of 2020 has been nothing short of impressive, and if he can come close to his last full season of production at one level that saw him slash .302/.339/.470 with 21 doubles, 17 home runs and 75 runs driven in then he will be a legitimate threat.

Arias is the prospect that I personally have the highest hopes for in Cleveland’s current farm system. He represents a very flexible infield option with a still developing hit tool that could use some major league seasoning this September. The Indians would have to get creative if they intend to keep Owen Miller and Ernie Clement on the roster, but Arias may very well take the job by force if given an opportunity.