Cleveland Indians: Outfield could be best option for Francisco Mejia

The Cleveland Indians may want to bring Francisco Mejia to the majors this summer, and playing in the outfield could prove to be his best option.

It is only a matter of time before Francisco Mejia is playing in a Cleveland Indians uniform on a regular basis. The question is whether that will be behind the plate or elsewhere in the field.

Mejia was optioned to Triple-A on Monday, which was rather expected given the fact both Roberto Perez and Yan Gomes remain on the roster.

But the move wasn’t necessarily one to get Mejia daily reps behind the plate. Jordan Bastian of MLB.com wrote an article on how Mejia will be receiving some reps in the outfield, which could result in a quicker route to Cleveland.

Putting the top prospect in the outfield could be the perfect solution for both Mejia and the Indians. The team has plenty of depth at the catcher position, but injuries in the outfield open up a spot for Mejia.

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The Indians want Mejia in the lineup and this is the way to do it. The other option was to trade either Gomes or Perez and have Mejia come up and start over the one who stayed.

That would thrust the young player into a situation he may not be ready for, and could mess with the performance of the pitchers as well.

Putting Mejia in the outfield right now doesn’t mean he can’t be a catcher in the future. And if both Gomes and Perez struggle on offense as they have in the past, the team may end up being forced to move on.

The one thing keeping both in Cleveland right now is their elite defense. Without that, Mejia may already be the starter.

The Indians are known to get creative and while Mejia playing in the outfield is an exciting option, it all likely depends on the health of Michael Brantley.

If Brantley is healthy, he will remain the left fielder. Mejia is not going to play in center field and may get a shot in right, but left remains the safest option.

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It never hurts to have options, but this one may start out as a bit more of an experiment at first until Brantley’s health situation becomes more clear.