Who bats leadoff, plays shortstop for the Cleveland Indians with Francisco Lindor on the shelf?

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If the Cleveland Indians didn’t feel they had issues with their lineup just before heading to spring coaching, they nearly definitely do now. 

Friday’s information that All-Star Francisco Lindor will miss out on 7 to nine weeks and likely the beginning of the common year even though rehabbing a strained appropriate calf muscle casts a pall on an by now iffy lineup that was established to depend disproportionately on the 24-calendar year-previous shortstop’s manufacturing from the get-go.

Lindor was a person of the most dependable leadoff hitters in the sport in excess of the past two seasons, major baseball with 123 operates scored in 2018 and blasting home operates at a franchise document tempo for his posture.

With Lindor on the shelf, a lineup that was by now established to have depth worries past the No. 5 spot now has a gaping hole at the best. Beneath is a glimpse at candidates on the Indians 40-man roster and spring invitees to take in excess of the leadoff spot even though Lindor is out. 

With only 5 job starts in the leadoff spot on his resume, Allen would be the participant with the most to show in order to gain a shot at Lindor’s leadoff spot. In 25 plate appearances in the leadoff job, Allen strike .304 with a double, four operates scored and a .708 OPS.

No stranger to the leadoff spot for Terry Francona, Kipnis has began 220 game titles at the best of the Indians batting order. He’s a .274 lifetime hitter in the leadoff spot with a .779 OPS together with 245 hits, 90 RBI and 139 operates scored. If practical experience is the pinpointing issue, Kipnis is the strongest candidate.

Francona has experimented with Santana in the best spot fairly routinely since 2016 since of the slugger’s capability to get on base consistently. His .845 OPS as a leadoff hitter in 132 lifetime game titles testifies to that. Santana would deliver pop with 26 job home operates at the best of the order to go alongside with 95 walks. 

Declared as a spring coaching invitee on Thursday, Flaherty’s odds of generating the roster on opening working day have enhanced with Lindor’s predicament. But Flaherty has just 12 job game titles batting in the leadoff spot beneath his belt and he’s not fared properly at the plate in those people odds, hitting just .167 with 7 strikeouts in 18 plate appearances.