This post continues our Depth Chart Discussions. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, rotation, and bullpen) and will continue to break them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find the Depth Chart Discussion posts gathered here.

There aren’t too many infields that can match the Indians’ selection of quality options at typically hard-to-fill positions, including a catcher coming off a breakout season, a corner infielder with solid power capability and a second baseman ready to return to his all-star form. As a bonus, there are several interesting depth pieces as well that owners in deep leagues might find useful.



Yan Gomes / 27 / catcher

Entering 2014, Gomes had a total of 15 major league home runs to his name. So yes, it came as something of a surprise when he bashed 21 dingers last year, fueling his fourth-place finish among catchers in Zach Sanders’ rankings. Thing is, it wasn’t his HR/FB rate, AB/HR ratio or batted ball distance that changed dramatically — it was his opportunity. Given the keys to a full-time role for the first time in his big league career, Gomes proved that the 130 wRC+ he produced in 2013 was no fluke as he spent last year blasting line drives, maintaining a very healthy batting average and spreading the production out over the entire season.

The caveats can be found in the reasons Nicholas Minnix noted back in September, particularly in the form of a high SwStr% and 37.5% O-Swing%, which ranked among the top 20 for qualified hitters. For a guy who hasn’t walked much at the major league level, it will be interesting to see how pitchers make adjustments to Gomes in 2015, and whether the Brazilian, in turn, can adjust to the adjustments.

But let’s not lose sight of the main point here: Gomes provides pop at a position where home runs and RBIs are hard to come across. Catcher is relatively deep this year, and some owners may balk at paying too high a price for Gomes, who, depending on a league’s eligibility rules, is either the fourth or fifth most popular option in mock drafts right now. But there aren’t too many catchers who can safely promise 20-home-run upside the way Gomes can.

Carlos Santana / 29 / first base

A .239 average is bad. But 27 home runs helps. As does 85 RBIs and a .196 ISO. And when you post the highest walk rate among qualified hitters to net you an excellent .365 OBP … oh, screw it: Santana, lousy batting average and all, provided fantasy owners with one of his best seasons in 2014. The power is legit: Santana’s batted ball distance of 290 feet marked a career high, fueling a 16.1% HR/FB rate, and he reversed a two-year trend of declining FB% rates to post a healthy 40.4% mark. As for the average, he hit enough line drives to make one believe that a rebound in his .249 BABIP is on the way, and besides, it’s critical to note that he was hitting just .159 at the end of May.

The biggest decline in Santana’s fantasy value comes from his loss of catcher eligibility in most leagues (he only played 11 games there last year). Still, he played in enough games at third base to retain eligibility for 2015 in most formats, and, of course, not catching helps ensure that he’ll continue stay durable and maintain his four-season streak of notching at least 600 plate appearances. Santana is not a lock for 30 home runs, but there’s no reason to think he doesn’t have that upside, and he should be considered a strong corner infield option once the elite players are off the draft board.

Jason Kipnis / 28 / second base

How good was Kipnis in 2013? Well, there’s no shortage of statistics to help explain, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll keep it simple: He was ranked No. 1 among keystone sackers according to Zach Sanders’ rankings entering 2014, but by the time September came to a close, he was the 14th most valuable option at the position. The encouraging news going forward is that last year wasn’t a case of Kipnis coming back down to earth — indeed, his 2013 all-star campaign was a natural step forward coming off 2012’s breakout — so there’s plenty of hope for a rebound.

Skill-wise, Kipnis’s strikeout, contact and whiff rates were all in line with his career norms, and although his batted ball profile was similar to 2013, he produced a measly 4.8% HR/FB rate. It’s fair to assume his physical condition was mostly to blame for his troubles: He was limited to 129 games after missing nearly all of May with a strained right oblique, and a hamstring injury ended his September prematurely. Only Kipnis knows for sure whether the oblique injury was a lingering problem, but observers noted that his swing looked longer and slower when he returned. Over the offseason, he damaged a tendon in his left ring finger during a workout and eventually underwent surgery, though the team doesn’t expect the injury to affect his availability for opening day. I’ll also note here that going into last year, Kipnis bulked up his frame, which may have hampered his agility.

But entering 2015, the team has altered his offseason conditioning program to emphasize flexibility and weight loss, and the Indians’ were reportedly pleased with the results upon seeing Kipnis earlier this month (he arrived to spring training ahead of schedule). Bottom line, there are a lot of reasons to be encouraged about his 2015 prospects — and given that he has top-three potential despite being drafted seventh among second basemen, he should be considered a strong draft target after the top keystone options are off the board.

Jose Ramirez / 22 / shortstop

Ramirez took over as the everyday shortstop following the trade of Asdrubal Cabrera and played pretty well over the season’s final two months, hitting .280. There’s no power to speak of, and some more walks would be nice, but Ramirez puts the bat on the ball, hit well in the No. 2 hole last year and owned a career .305 average in the minors. Best of all, he has some serious wheels; he stole 10 bases in 68 games last year, and he swiped as many as 38 bags in Double-A two years ago. His glove is good enough to keep him in the lineup on a regular basis, and although he probably won’t factor into too many standard leagues, his speed makes him an interesting middle infield option in deeper mixed formats.

Lonnie Chisenhall / 26 / third base

At first glance, it was a breakthrough season for the former first-round pick, as Chisenhall slashed .280/.343/.427, popped 13 home runs and finished with a 121 wRC+, at last earning himself some credibility as a mixed league fantasy third baseman. For those who owned him, however, there was a catch: a ridiculously sharp split in his first half (.915 OPS, .400 wOBA) versus his second half (.591, .264). Actually, as Nicholas Minnix seized upon back in October, the tide began turning in mid-June — right around the time he wowed the fantasy world with his 5-for-5, three-homer performance against the Rangers. At the time, a downfall should have been foreseeable, due to Chisenhall’s ungodly .458 BABIP, but as Nicholas pointed out, there were other factors that would hinder him, including an increasing tendency by pitchers to challenge Chisenhall inside, where he’s had problems in his career.

The most encouraging takeaway from last year can be found in Chisenhall’s 110 wRC+ against left-handers in 121 plate appearances, and increasing confidence from manager Terry Francona to give him opportunity to play against them. But his approach at the plate didn’t really change between the two periods in his 2014 campaign, or, for that matter, from what he’s been doing at the big league level, and his strikeout rate remained on par with his career norms. Meanwhile, anyone who invests in Chisenhall should be aware of Giovanny Urshela, who completed a strong season split between Double-A and Triple-A last year and is considered the organization’s best fielding third baseman. He’s projected to start the year at Triple-A, but although he hasn’t flashed particularly good numbers against southpaws, he could find his way to Cleveland to see action at the hot corner if Chisenhall’s April mirrors the final three and a half months of his 2014.

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• Brandon Moss is listed on the Indians’ official website as the right fielder, though Francona has indicated that he could see significant time at first base. Chris Cwik gave us the rundown on Moss earlier this week, but to sum up: he underwent surgery on his right hip over the offseason to repair a torn labrum, and although he’s expected to miss some time in March, he will supposedly be ready for opening day. When in the lineup, the 31-year-old provides some thunder, evidenced by an average of 25 homers over the past two and a half seasons, and Progressive Field plays very favorably for left-handed hitters so far as home runs are concerned. Moss’ health is an issue, as is his playing time against lefties, but he’s assured first base eligibility in 2015 and should be a discounted source of power in the mid-to-late rounds.

• Nick Swisher was limited to just 97 games last year before surgery on both knees ended his season in August. When he was on the field, the results weren’t pretty: a .208/.278/.331 slash line with just eight home runs and an alarming 27.7% strikeout rate. For a guy who was such a durable and reliable fantasy producer for nearly a decade, it’s presumptuous to dismiss Swisher entirely, but he’s entering his age-34 season and won’t have outfield eligibility, at least not at the season’s outset. On the other hand, he says he’s lost 15 pounds and he probably won’t cost too much in the late rounds of drafts. We’ll see how he looks once he takes the field in mid-March, but if he can stay healthy enough to log some time between first base and DH, it’s not unreasonable to hope for 15 home runs from him.

• Mike Aviles, 34, hasn’t cracked 400 plate appearances since 2012, though he managed to steal 14 bases as he split time mostly backing up second and third base last year. (Oddly enough, he’s swiped exactly 14 bases in four of the past five seasons. Maybe it’s something of a favorite number of his.) He can play shortstop as well, and his versatility mixed with his ability to provide some speed gives him some value, but his OPS has declined in each of the past four seasons and he hasn’t batted over .255 since 2010.

• Zach Walters provided the Indians with a .262 ISO after coming over from the Nationals in the Cabrera trade, but that’s because despite hitting .170, he crushed seven home runs in just 30 games — or, put another way, nearly half of his hits for the Indians left the yard. He says he was bothered by a torn intercostal muscle in August and September, which helps explain the dreary average. He has only 146 major league plate appearances to his name, but so far, Walters, 25, has displayed an ability at both the major and minor league levels to crush left-handed pitching, and he belted 29 home runs at Triple-A in 2013. He doesn’t have a clear path to everyday playing time in 2015, but if Chisenhall struggles, Walters, who primarily played shortstop in the minors, could emerge as a platoon option at the hot corner.

• Jesus Aguilar has displayed pop in his minor league career, where he owns a career .832 OPS. But a logjam at first base and DH probably prevents the 24-year-old from becoming a major factor in the Tribe’s 2015 plans, at least not until someone goes down with an injury.

• Lastly, let’s not forget Francisco Lindor. A darling of prospect lists, Lindor, 21, is likely to start the year at Triple-A, though if and when he joins the big club in 2015, he’ll figure to get regular playing time at shortstop.