Potential Playoff Roster

[Steve_424]

There's a long way to go for the Indians to start thinking about their playoff roster, but it doesn't hurt for us to discuss. For the purposes of this discussion, we'll assume all injured players expected to be back for the Playoffs are.

LOCKS - 21 Players

C - Yan Gomes, Roberto Perez
1B - Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana
2B - Jason Kipnis
SS - Francisco Lindor
3B - Jose Ramirez
LF - Michael Brantley
CF - Bradley Zimmer, Austin Jackson
RF - Jay Bruce, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer

Starting Pitchers - Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer

Relief Pitchers - Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

That leaves 4 spots. The Tribe carried 12 pitchers last postseason, so I'd expect 4 of those spots to go that way.

Josh Tomlin, Mike Clevinger, Dan Otero, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister, Tyler Olson, and Craig Breslow are candidates on the current roster, barring an August addition.

As for other position players, Erik Gonzalez, Giovanny Urshela, and Abraham Almonte are the likeliest candidates on the current roster, with Francisco Mejia, Yandy Diaz, and Tyler Naquin as longer-shot candidates.



Thoughts? The pitching is especially interesting to me. Tito has pitched Goody, McAllister, and Otero quite a bit this season. It's also hard to imagine him leaving both Tomlin and Clevinger off of the roster. Tito also may want a 2nd lefty, even if it is Olson or Breslow.

 

[Steve_424]

Edited to add Jay Bruce

 

[sportscoach]

There's a long way to go for the Indians to start thinking about their playoff roster, but it doesn't hurt for us to discuss. For the purposes of this discussion, we'll assume all injured players expected to be back for the Playoffs are.

LOCKS - 21 Players

C - Yan Gomes, Roberto Perez
1B - Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana
2B - Jason Kipnis
SS - Francisco Lindor
3B - Jose Ramirez
LF - Michael Brantley
CF - Bradley Zimmer, Austin Jackson
RF - Jay Bruce, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer

Starting Pitchers - Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer

Relief Pitchers - Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

That leaves 4 spots. The Tribe carried 12 pitchers last postseason, so I'd expect 4 of those spots to go that way.

Josh Tomlin, Mike Clevinger, Dan Otero, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister, Tyler Olson, and Craig Breslow are candidates on the current roster, barring an August addition.

As for other position players, Erik Gonzalez, Giovanny Urshela, and Abraham Almonte are the likeliest candidates on the current roster, with Francisco Mejia, Yandy Diaz, and Tyler Naquin as longer-shot candidates.



Thoughts? The pitching is especially interesting to me. Tito has pitched Goody, McAllister, and Otero quite a bit this season. It's also hard to imagine him leaving both Tomlin and Clevinger off of the roster. Tito also may want a 2nd lefty, even if it is Olson or Breslow.

This is what I wrote in the other thread, but it makes sense to repost it here since this is a better place to put it

Indians will be going with 12 pitchers so if everyone is healthy

Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar, Bauer, Tomlin, Otero, McAllister, Shaw, Miller, Allen, Smith then last spot will be between Goody/Olson/Vetern LH (we still may acquire one soon since Logan went down)

As of right now a guy like Clevinger will not be on the main roster for the playoffs unless Tomlin cannot come back. Otero is on the playoff roster so Clev will not be on the roster over him. Now if they decide to keep Clev it will be over Goody.

Position players we will keep 13 probably if healthy between

Gomes, Perez, EE, Santana, Kipnis, Lindor, Ramirez, Chisenhall, Brantley, Zimmer, Jackson, Guyer so then the last spot will be between Bruce, Gonzalez, Urshela, Yandy etc.

It is very possible Bruce doesn't actually make the playoff roster if he is playin poorly and everyone else is healthy. Zimmer I always said should be on the playoff roster as at least a bench role even if he isn't playing everyday cause he could be a pinch runner/def sub. This team actually may be better suited for the playoffs than the regular season in some ways.

 

[3 Ball...GOT IT]

There's a long way to go for the Indians to start thinking about their playoff roster, but it doesn't hurt for us to discuss. For the purposes of this discussion, we'll assume all injured players expected to be back for the Playoffs are.

LOCKS - 21 Players

C - Yan Gomes, Roberto Perez
1B - Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana
2B - Jason Kipnis
SS - Francisco Lindor
3B - Jose Ramirez
LF - Michael Brantley
CF - Bradley Zimmer, Austin Jackson
RF - Jay Bruce, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer

Starting Pitchers - Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer

Relief Pitchers - Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

That leaves 4 spots. The Tribe carried 12 pitchers last postseason, so I'd expect 4 of those spots to go that way.

Josh Tomlin, Mike Clevinger, Dan Otero, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister, Tyler Olson, and Craig Breslow are candidates on the current roster, barring an August addition.

As for other position players, Erik Gonzalez, Giovanny Urshela, and Abraham Almonte are the likeliest candidates on the current roster, with Francisco Mejia, Yandy Diaz, and Tyler Naquin as longer-shot candidates.



Thoughts? The pitching is especially interesting to me. Tito has pitched Goody, McAllister, and Otero quite a bit this season. It's also hard to imagine him leaving both Tomlin and Clevinger off of the roster. Tito also may want a 2nd lefty, even if it is Olson or Breslow.

If Bauer made the playoff roster and Clev didn't I'd shit. I've been impressed with Olson, barring an implosion I expect him to make it as a matchup guy. Otero to me is pretty much a lock as a GIDP guy in jams earlier in the game.

That leaves picking two of McAllister and Goody. It wouldn't surprise me if they kept both and left out one of the starters like Bauer. There's no need for a five SPs, and I'd think the one left out between Goody/McAllister would be more deserving to make it for the season they had than turning that SP to a reliever.

 

[TheLand1287]

This is what I wrote in the other thread, but it makes sense to repost it here since this is a better place to put it

Indians will be going with 12 pitchers so if everyone is healthy

Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar, Bauer, Tomlin, Otero, McAllister, Shaw, Miller, Allen, Smith then last spot will be between Goody/Olson/Vetern LH (we still may acquire one soon since Logan went down)

As of right now a guy like Clevinger will not be on the main roster for the playoffs unless Tomlin cannot come back. Otero is on the playoff roster so Clev will not be on the roster over him. Now if they decide to keep Clev it will be over Goody.

Position players we will keep 13 probably if healthy between

Gomes, Perez, EE, Santana, Kipnis, Lindor, Ramirez, Chisenhall, Brantley, Zimmer, Jackson, Guyer so then the last spot will be between Bruce, Gonzalez, Urshela, Yandy etc.

It is very possible Bruce doesn't actually make the playoff roster if he is playin poorly and everyone else is healthy. Zimmer I always said should be on the playoff roster as at least a bench role even if he isn't playing everyday cause he could be a pinch runner/def sub. This team actually may be better suited for the playoffs than the regular season in some ways.

Did you really just say that Jay Bruce isn't a lock to make the playoff roster? Go sit in the corner, dude.

 

[EdMonix11]

There's a long way to go for the Indians to start thinking about their playoff roster, but it doesn't hurt for us to discuss. For the purposes of this discussion, we'll assume all injured players expected to be back for the Playoffs are.

LOCKS - 21 Players

C - Yan Gomes, Roberto Perez
1B - Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana
2B - Jason Kipnis
SS - Francisco Lindor
3B - Jose Ramirez
LF - Michael Brantley
CF - Bradley Zimmer, Austin Jackson
RF - Jay Bruce, Lonnie Chisenhall, Brandon Guyer

Starting Pitchers - Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer

Relief Pitchers - Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Joe Smith, Bryan Shaw

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

That leaves 4 spots. The Tribe carried 12 pitchers last postseason, so I'd expect 4 of those spots to go that way.

Josh Tomlin, Mike Clevinger, Dan Otero, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister, Tyler Olson, and Craig Breslow are candidates on the current roster, barring an August addition.

As for other position players, Erik Gonzalez, Giovanny Urshela, and Abraham Almonte are the likeliest candidates on the current roster, with Francisco Mejia, Yandy Diaz, and Tyler Naquin as longer-shot candidates.



Thoughts? The pitching is especially interesting to me. Tito has pitched Goody, McAllister, and Otero quite a bit this season. It's also hard to imagine him leaving both Tomlin and Clevinger off of the roster. Tito also may want a 2nd lefty, even if it is Olson or Breslow.

I don't think Kipnis is a lock to be on the playoff roster.... especially if his season continues the way it has. He currently has no value at the dish and offers no positional flexibility.

Tito said Chisenhall will play some 3B going forward and I think that gives the Indians their best lineup at the moment (with Ramirez at 2B). Kipnis is the most logical guy to get bumped-- he's had chronic injury issues, his timing at the dish is fucked and sending him out to 2B you run the risk of re-injuring that hamstring. Plus, Chisenhall, Brantley and Bruce need to be in the lineup, in my opinion.

If Kipnis gets bumped, I'd rather have Urshela as a late-inning defensive replacement for Chiz than Kipnis who'd likely only be a pinch hitter. I guess you could argue Kip would be a better pinch hitter than Guyer (that's debatable but I like having a RHH on the bench even though Guyer hasn't been great) or Jose slides over to 3rd and Kip goes to 2nd in the late innings. I guess we'll have to wait to see how the season finishes.....

 

[AZ_]

Lol.

Kipnis is 1000 percent on the roster if healthy.

 

[Derek]

If Bauer made the playoff roster and Clev didn't I'd shit. I've been impressed with Olson, barring an implosion I expect him to make it as a matchup guy. Otero to me is pretty much a lock as a GIDP guy in jams earlier in the game.

That leaves picking two of McAllister and Goody. It wouldn't surprise me if they kept both and left out one of the starters like Bauer. There's no need for a five SPs, and I'd think the one left out between Goody/McAllister would be more deserving to make it for the season they had than turning that SP to a reliever.

Bauer is a lock for the playoff rotation. I assume Clevinger will likely be available out of the pen.

Goody/McAllister should definitely make it over Otero.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

If healthy, the following position players are locks.

C: Gomes, Perez
1B/DH: EE, Santana
2B: Kipnis
3B: Jose
SS: Lindor
LF: Brantley
CF: Zimmer
RF: Lonnie

If healthy, the following pitchers are locks:

SP: Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar, Bauer
RP: Shaw, Smith, Miller, Allen

That's 10 position players and 8 pitchers.

Then you have to pick from the rest:

OF: Bruce, Jackson, Guyer
IF: Urshela, Gonzalez
P: Tomlin, Clevinger, Otero, Logan, Goody, McAllister, Olson, Armstrong, Merritt

Personally, IF healthy (big if right now), I think the following 7 make it:

Bruce, Guyer, Jackson, Urshela
Tomlin, Clevinger, Olson?

I wouldn't be shocked to see any of those 4 position players being left off, besides Austin Jackson. However, I think those pitchers are who we'll roll with. Maybe you swap out Olson for someone who exceeds down the stretch--but he's been pretty good so far, and is a second lefty in the pen.

 

[Real Deal]

Lol.

Kipnis is 1000 percent on the roster if healthy.

It'll be a mistake too, especially if he carries on his terrible play from a hitting standpoint. Defense seems fine.

If, but if, he's still A ball caliber at the dish then it'll be a easy decision to leave him off. He's struggling now, imagine when the game becomes even tougher and every out means something.

Minus Kipnis:

Lindor SS
Jose 2B
Brantley LF
EE DH
Bruce RF/Lonnie
Santana 1B
Lonnie 3B/Gio
Jackson/Zimmer CF
Gomes C

 

[Derek]

Perez
Gomes
Encarnacion
Santana
Kipnis
Lindor
Ramirez
Brantley
Zimmer
Chisenhall
Bruce
Jackson
Guyer

Kluber
Carrasco
Salazar
Bauer

Clevinger
Olson
Goody
McAllister
Shaw
Smith
Miller
Allen

That would be my best guess at the playoff roster right now.

I could see Guyer getting swapped out, maybe, but probably not. Then maybe Clevinger or Goody for Tomlin. Otherwise, I'd lock in the rest assuming health.

 

[bigfoot5415]

Perez
Gomes
Encarnacion
Santana
Kipnis
Lindor
Ramirez
Brantley
Zimmer
Chisenhall
Bruce
Jackson
Guyer

Kluber
Carrasco
Salazar
Bauer

Clevinger
Olson
Goody
McAllister
Shaw
Smith
Miller
Allen

Close to my prediction.

Id substitute Tomlin for Olson & Guyer for Urschela.

Our bullpen is deep, Tomlin could easily eat innings if need be. I know Olson has been good in the limited appearances, but Id rather have a proven playoff commodity in Tomlin. My biggest goal would be to limit Kluber, Miller & Allen as much as needed. They were gassed beyond belief in game 7.

Urschela is simply for the IF depth. We cant go into the playoffs without some sort of infield insurance. If Kip makes it & goes down again, we would be in a tough spot starting Chiz again at 3rd.

5 OF guys, with Santana being a 6th for the WS seems right to me.

What a great problem to have.

 

[Derek]

Close to my prediction.

Id substitute Tomlin for Olson & Guyer for Urschela.

Our bullpen is deep, Tomlin could easily eat innings if need be. I know Olson has been good in the limited appearances, but Id rather have a proven playoff commodity in Tomlin. My biggest goal would be to limit Kluber, Miller & Allen as much as needed. They were gassed beyond belief in game 7.

Urschela is simply for the IF depth. We cant go into the playoffs without some sort of infield insurance. If Kip makes it & goes down again, we would be in a tough spot starting Chiz again at 3rd.

5 OF guys, with Santana being a 6th for the WS seems right to me.

What a great problem to have.

I'm not entirely sure what Tomlin is supposed to have proven in the playoffs last year. I'd rather have Olson, a second lefty, to use for match ups. Having a match up lefty is huge if we're going to keep Miller from being run into the ground.

Last year we had a 2.5 man rotation (w/Bauer's injury vs Toronto). We shouldn't have to worry about wearing down Kluber as much as we did last year since we'll have 4 guy plus a stretched out Clev on stand by.

If Kip gets hurt, we can replace him on the playoff roster. Chiz/Jose can move around defensively depending on pinch hitters throughout a game.

 

[sportscoach]

A healthy Tomlin nor a healthy Kipnis are not being left off the playoff roster and its very unlikely McAllister will be left off it as well. Guys like Goody, Olson and Clev are the guys who are in a question mark making it for the playoff roster. If we decide to keep 6 OFs then we may end up with 11 pitchers and we will go with the most experienced more than likely.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

A healthy Tomlin nor a healthy Kipnis are not being left off the playoff roster and its very unlikely McAllister will be left off it as well. Guys like Goody, Olson and Clev are the guys who are in a question mark making it for the playoff roster. If we decide to keep 6 OFs then we may end up with 11 pitchers and we will go with the most experienced more than likely.

Please explain the playoff situation where McAllister holds more value than Clevinger.