The outfield situation in Cleveland is sort of mess and the 60-game 2020 MLB season will not provide a large margin for error.
In a usual season the Cleveland baseball team would have more than enough time to figure out their outfield situation. Well, that will not be the case in 2020. With only 60 games their margin for error is just about zero which is going to cause some problems.
Outside of Oscar Mercado, Franmil Reyes, and Jordan Luplow there are question marks in the Cleveland outfield. What will the likes of Domingo Santana, Greg Allen, Tyler Naquin, Jake Bauers, and Delino DeShields be able to provide? Which player will be relegated to the DH role while others see time in the outfield? There is only 60 games to figure this out in an all important shortened season.
Things would be a lot easier if a normal 162 game season was taking place. Unfortunately that will note be the case. There will not be the usual time afforded for these players to figure things out at the plate. They will need to be productive from the start and avoid the slump they seem to find themselves falling into. Even if one player falls into a slump one of the other guys needs to step up and produce.
It would be a lot easier to buy in to this version of the team if there was not this many question marks in the outfield. While it is only one starting spot and reserve outfielders, it is the type of players they have there. A roulette wheel has more consistency than some of these players and that’s a problem. Cleveland is going to need productive at-bats from the start and it is unknown if they are a able to do that.
