5 Cleveland Indians whose stocks are trending up Summer Camp

Yu Chang

The sun will rise in the east and Yu Chang will hit a home run. That’s been true during Summer Camp, as Chang blasted his sixth bomb of the preseason off Mike Clevinger July 15.

Chang was sitting 3-0, and Clevinger knew what was coming, via Cleveland.com.

"“Is Yu Chang Babe Ruth?” Clevinger asked reporters on a Zoom call after the game. “When he got to 3-0 he was smiling. I knew he was going to swing.”"

Before Clevinger, Chang took the following hurlers yard:  Carlos Carrasco (twice), Zach Plesac, Shane Bieber and Scott Moss.

Chang was a part of the proposed 2016 trade, which would’ve made Jonathan Lucroy an Indian. Thankfully it didn’t work out.

If Chang’s going to have a role on the 2020 roster, it will be that of a utility man, and that’s OK. There’s no minor league to go to, so why not keep him around. The Indians have used him at third, shortstop and second base.

He’ll turn 25 in August and even if there were minor league baseball, he’d have nothing let to prove. Even if he doesn’t turn into a regular this season, it’d be a good bet to see him start at short or second, depending on what the Tribe does with Francisco Lindor this offseason.

While we’re all eagerly anticipating the debut of top prospect , Chang is probably a safety bet to start the 2021 season at shortstop if the Tribe trades Francisco Lindor this winter.

As for the homers, opower is typically an an attribute that comes with age for young ballplayers. That was especially true for for Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

Lindor hit 31 career minor-league homers between 2009-2015. in hist last three big-league seasons, he’s hit 33, 38 and 32, respectively. Ramirez hit 14 minor-league bombs between 2011-2014. He’s gone on to hit 29, 39, 23 in a Indians’ uniform.