Cleveland Indians: Should Francisco Mejia make the roster?

The Cleveland Indians have one of the best prospects in all of baseball with backstop Francisco Mejia. Does he have a shot of making the roster?

The talent is too much to deny. Francisco Mejia can hit. And he’s just going to prove it over and over and over again.

In his 18 at bats this spring, Mejia has hit .444 with a 1.363 OPS, including two homers, two doubles, and seven RBIs. You can argue “small sample size”, sure. But he’s been proving he can hit for a very long time now.

His 2016 campaign is what put him on the map, with a 50 game hitting streak and a .342 average in A-ball, he shot up prospect lists. In Double-A in 2017, he knocked 14 homers while hitting .297. And now his bat is major league ready.

With Mejia’s high average bat and power potential, the Cleveland Indians should look to bring him into the lineup as soon as possible.

What about Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez?

The long term contracts those two are under are basically what stands in the way of Mejia taking over the starting catcher job right now. Gomes is guaranteed at least two more years with team options for another two while Perez is locked in through 2020, and could potentially be extended through 2022.

There’s always the potential that one of them could be traded to open up a spot for Mejia behind the plate.

One thing that many Indians fans praise Gomes and Perez about is their defense. They are excellent defensively and have very strong arms. Gomes threw out 42% of would be base stealers last year while Perez threw out 43% of them.

But defense is the only part where they shined last year. Both Gomes and Perez are awful with a bat in their hands. Just look at the numbers from last year.

Yan Gomes: .232/.309/.399, 14 HR, 56 RBIs, 83 OPS+

Roberto Perez: .207/.291/.373, 8 HR, 32 RBI, 72 OPS+

That is absolutely terrible output from that position. If this team is going to compete for a World Series title, the offense can’t have a spot as weak as this one is right now. Michael Brantley may not be healthy to start the year and there needs to be another productive bat in this lineup. Gomes and Perez simply won’t cut it.

But that’s where Mejia comes in. His bat is strong and consistent, and he can set himself up to be one of the best offensive catchers in baseball.

What about Mejia’s defensive skills?

That is the one reason why Mejia might not make the roster. He does have a very strong throwing arm but his receiving skills are behind those of Gomes and Perez. In the Arizona Fall League last year, Mejia spent the entirety of his time at third base, with potential hopes for increasing his versatility as a way to get into the lineup more.

But if he moves to third that means Jose Ramirez likely has to move to second base and Jason Kipnis goes back to the outfield. And so far, the Cleveland Indians have given no indication that they plan on moving Kipnis back there. So Mejia would likely make this team as a catcher.

Should Mejia make the roster?

Just because he’s not as solid defensively as Gomes or Perez does not mean that they should keep Mejia off the big league roster. And any defensive shortcomings he may have will be plenty made up for with his bat in the lineup.

Mejia has a future as a .300 hitter in the big leagues. This is the Cleveland Indians’ year. The time to put him in the lineup is now. Is the team willing to sacrifice perhaps 80-90 points of batting average just for the defensive ability of Gomes and Perez? I don’t think they should. Adding a productive bat to the lineup where there wasn’t one before is never a bad thing.

That being said, it’s difficult to envision a scenario where the Indians carry three catchers on the 25 man roster. That means that for Mejia to make the roster, one of Gomes or Perez needs to be traded. And the only way I see one of those two getting traded is if someone else’s starting catcher gets injured during camp and a team needs one. At that point, the desperate team will need to pay whatever price the Indians set for the trade to happen.

So, barring an unforeseen injury to a starting catcher elsewhere, it does not look like Mejia will make this roster out of camp. But, at some point in 2018, the Indians need to bring up Mejia and insert him into the starting lineup.

Next: Predicting the 2018 Opening Day roster

The future is now for this team. 2018 may be the last best chance for the Indians to win the World Series. And a catching situation with very little offensive output is simply unacceptable.