Cleveland Indians: 3 goals to aim for with postseason hopes dwindling

Cleveland Indians Goal #1: Set the starting rotation for 2022

As of right now, the Cleveland Indians will become the Cleveland Guardians with most of a starting rotation set, but not all of it. The team knows that they will have Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac leading the group. While that trio has been banged up this year, they are still the club’s best three starting pitchers.

After that, Cal Quantrill seems to have earned his spot as well. He’s made strides in the absence of the Big Three and looks like he can be a solid middle-to-back end of the rotation arm. However, beyond those four it’s an open competition for the final spot in the rotation.

Both Eli Morgan and Triston McKenzie have shown flashes and who knows who else could emerge between now and Opening Day 2022. However, if we’re going off the sample size of the 2021 season, it seems to be down between Morgan and McKenzie for the final spot in the rotation next year.

While Morgan had a tough start, he’s slowly been improving. All three starts in July saw him give up three runs and now both starts in August have been two runs. He’s also gone at least five innings in each of his last seven starts, including six and seven in his two August starts.

As for McKenzie, his results have been a bit more mixed. His highs are higher, but his lows are lower. In August, he’s nearly matched Morgan giving up just one more run in the same amount of innings.

Getting starters like Morgan and McKenzie as many opportunities as possible down the stretch will be key to both their development and the team’s evaluation. If one becomes a front-runner by the end of the season, that makes next year’s situation a bit easier to decide.

Cleveland Indians Goal #2: Get prospects at-bats

Like the starting pitchers, the rest of the season with be an opportunity for more chances amongst the the young prospects on the team. After trading Cesar Hernandez and Eddie Rosario, there are positions, and at-bats, up for grabs in both the outfield and the infield. The rest of the 2021 season should really just be an audition for 2022.

Cleveland knows what they have in players like Jose Ramirez and Amed Rosario in the infield and even Harold Ramirez in the outfield. As for the rest of the lineup, with the exception of Franmil Reyes as the designated hitter, it’s basically question marks.

The rest of the 2021 season should be used as a trying out period, especially once the rosters expand. Right now the club should focus on getting as many at-bats for players that they have yet to get a full sample from. That includes Bobby Bradley, Owen Miller, Ernie Clement and even Gabriel Arias in the infield. As for the outfield, more opportunities should be given to Bradley Zimmer, Oscar Mercado, Myles Straw and Daniel Johnson.

The production might not be great, but this is the time to see what those players can do with little consequences with the postseason already out of reach. Throw matchups out the window and try to get as broad of a sample as you can from all of these players so going into Spring Training there’s at least a base for all of them.

Cleveland Indians Goal #3: Go young in the bullpen

If you’re noticing a trend in this article, maybe something of a youth movement, it’s about to continue. Like the rotation and the lineup, it’s time to explore next season in the bullpen. That might mean releasing Bryan Shaw and Blake Parker to open up more innings and roster spots, but it needs to happen.

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We, for the most part, know what we’re getting with Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak, but that’s really about it for the future. You could throw Nick Wittgren in there as well, but the rest of the bullpen for next year hasn’t been fully explored.

Through the rest of the season, the younger players should be given more opportunities. See what Nick Sandlin can do in a Bryan Shaw-type role. Try out Trevor Stephan in different situations since he was a Rule 5 selection and has been on the roster all season with only 28 appearances. Take a look at the newest additions to the roster, Francisco Perez and Justin Garza, and see if there’s something there for next season in the bullpen.

These pitchers are already on the roster, why not use them as much as possible? Bryan Shaw and Blake Parker most likely aren’t part of the club’s future, but these prospects could be. It’s time to pull out all the stops and use the rest of 2021 as an open competition to get a head start on Spring Training 2022.