Cleveland Indians: 3 storylines to follow during the 2020 season

What young players, if any, will step up?

There can be only one.

I mean, not really. It’s more like “…will there be at least one?” That’s the question that the fanbase should really ask. It seems like every year for a while now there’s always one person that explodes out of nowhere and becomes this next great star. Someone with some talent sure, but not the guy many expected or thought possible. Your Michael Brantley’s, Corey Kluber’s, Shane Beiber’s, Jason Kipnis’ types.

Over the years, we’ve heard all sorts of things about Matt LaPorta, Andy Marte, Francisco Lindor, and even Jose Ramirez to a degree. Yet when some guys made it up to the majors, something ended up not working out for them. Added on to that, some of the Tribe’s best prospects over the last few years, Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, and Francisco Mejia all got traded away for relievers. Not exactly the best use of your farm system, yet here we are. Making it all the much more important someone unheralded steps up.

For instance, in years past, when the team waited for LaPorta to turn into a star but instead found Brantley. This year the team will keep waiting for Bradley Zimmer to turn into the guy he’s supposed to. Will a Jake Bauer, Tyler Naquin, Frammil Reyes, or Oscar Mercado be the next guy to break out? What about pitching-wise? Who’s going to join Beiber, Carlos Carrasco, and Mike Clevenger? Will it be Zach Plesac, Scott Moss, or Aaron Civale?

There’s a lot of possibilities but there’s not a lot of certainties. Be it in the rotation, the bullpen or the lineup, someone is going to have to step up and play in a way that was unexpected if this team has a hope of making the World Series.