Corner of Hot Takes and Ontario: Episode 3

Francisco Mejia is Major League ready… with the lumber. In a ploy to “increase positional versatility,” it has been reported that the Indians will continue to experiment with him at third base and now in the corner outfield. Though it may degrade the value of his bat, it seems to offer a chance to showcase the Indians’ bat control wizard and most intriguing prospect since Francisco Lindor.

Tyler Naquin is a new entity. Changes to his stance, hands, and overall plate approach have propelled him to the forefront of our outfield discussions. Though we doubted his inability to avoid the strikeout, high fastball contact aversion, and ability to fight off regression in 2016, there are intriguing aspects of the new and improved Naquin. The former first round pick has already shown the ability to spray the ball at a big league level, so the question has devolved into whether his approach changes will mitigate the negative effects of his obvious warts.

Spring Training doesn’t offer us much to parse. That being said, there is value in identifying which guys the organization has committed to handing out plate appearances. Rob Refsnyder is doubling up Yandy Diaz in that category, which, among other things, is very telling in regards to their feelings on Yandy. On the other side of young prospect things, Greg Allen and Eric Stamets are feeling the love. The outfield and utility player battles are the most intriguing spring things, while we wait for the opener in Seattle, which starts after everyone is asleep.