Cleveland Indians: 5 debuts we’re excited to see this season

4. Daniel Johnson

It seems like Daniel Johnson‘s been with the Tribe forever, when in reality, he’s spent one full-season in the organization, coming over after the 2018 campaign in the trade for Yan Gomes.

Johnson just gets talked about, a lot, because he does have the potential to become an everyday starting outfielder.

For the Clippers in 2019, Johnson hit .306 with an .867 OPS.  He’s already on the 40-man roster and he’ll likely start the season on the Taxi Squad.

With that said, the Indians outfield remains the biggest mess on the team. There’s still many question marks and frankly, in a 60-game season, the Tribe probably won’t have the time to sort it all out.

Some of those questions include; Will Jake Bauers figure it out? Who will platoon with Jordan Luplow? Tyler Naquin? What about Bradley Zimmer? The former top prospect hasn’t seen regular at-bats since the 2017 campaign.

The common theme here is time. How many innings will Tito and Chris Antonetti give to someone like Bauers, who really struggled the 2019 campaign.

Johnson logged 337 at bats at Class AAA last season. He should be an everyday starter when 2021 commences. If the current crop of outfielders fail early and often, perhaps it’d be wise to jumpstart his career in this bizarre season.