Cleveland Indians: Can Tyler Naquin make the Opening Day roster?

The Cleveland Indians have several in house candidates to serve in the outfield this season. That means that someone is going to have set themselves apart from the crowd to make the team. Can Tyler Naquin be that guy?

Tyler Naquin has played in parts of two major league seasons. Those two seasons could not be more opposite of each other.

In 2016, Naquin hit .296/.372/.514 with 14 homers, five triples, and 43 RBIs with an OPS+ of 128 over 116 games. He finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. Things were looking pretty good, right?

Then in 2017, Naquin played in only 19 games, and he hit .216/.250/.270 with no homers, one run batted in, and an OPS+ of 37. He became an afterthought in the outfield.

Naturally, Naquin is coming into camp with an eye on improving upon last season. But will it be enough for him to make the roster coming out of spring training?

The Cleveland Indians are well aware of the offensive potential that Naquin brings, but he needs to prove that he can still hit at a high level. His defense doesn’t grade out particularly well, so he’s going to have to be dependent on his bat to keep him afloat in the big leagues long term.

In fact, Naquin had a -17 Defensive Runs Saved in centerfield during his rookie season. This leaves plenty of room for improvement for sure, but very little promise of becoming a high quality defender. The big problem is the small range he covers in the outfield. He’s going to need to cover more ground.

Does Naquin have a chance of making the team?

It appears to be an open competition for that backup outfield spot. With Michael Brantley and Brandon Guyer dealing with injuries at the start of camp here, there’s plenty of at bats to go around. If it’s an open competition, then yes, Naquin does have a chance.

The key is to set himself apart from the other outfield competitors. He needs to prove he’s still got it at the plate. He got off to a good start the other day, blasting a two run shot in an 11-2 drubbing of Arizona. He also added a double, finishing 2-for-3 that day. It’s just one game, but it’s something positive coming off a season with very few of those.

Naquin will face stiff competition from Greg Allen, Rajai Davis, and others, but he can make it. One thing that could actually work against him is that he’s a left handed hitter. The Tribe’s outfield is already stacked with lefties and could actually use a right handed hitter to balance it out. That’s where Davis could get a leg up on Naquin, and Allen, who’s a switch hitter, could jump over Naquin as well.

He’s gotten off to a hot start, but he’ll need to keep it up throughout the rest of camp. He became an afterthought last season. He needs to prove that he’s not a flame out and can bounce-back to become a difference maker like he was in 2016.

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Naquin still has youth on his side. But to cement himself in this Cleveland Indians outfield in the future, he will need a strong bounce-back 2018 campaign, and that starts in spring training.