Cleveland Indians: 3 players who can start the season at second base

Martinez, and to a lesser extent Ronny Rodriguez, are the Indians’ super utility men. Martinez is fast, and he can play pretty much every fielding position outside of first base and catcher. The Tribe has only used him in a utility role in his big league time, and Tito uses him frequently late in ball games. Martinez has had a large impact on the Indians’ success, more than it would seem on paper.

The danger in playing Martinez as the second baseman on a regular basis to start the season is that he would not provide that burst in late innings. It would be more challenging and require more substitutions to put Martinez, for example, in left field or at third late in the game.

He also cannot pinch run then, which is one of his biggest strengths. He is more of a super utility man and less of an everyday player at this point in his career. Tito does not like messing with his situational guys. Martinez is unlikely to make an impact as a starting second baseman because his impact is lessened in that role. The Indians don’t want to lose a couple of one-run games because they decided to start Martinez at second base