Cleveland Indians: 3 players who could have a breakout year

Jordan Luplow

There wasn’t much hype around Jordan Luplow when he got traded from Pittsburgh to Cleveland for Erik Gonzales. Many people thought Luplow wouldn’t find much playing time outside of the usual platoon work or filling in for slumping and injured players in the outfield.

Yet in 2019, he played in just 85 games and had 225 at-bats. In that span, he had some of his best numbers for his career. He hit 15 home runs and had he played a full season would’ve hit nearly 30. Luplow blew up within a small sample size and looks poised for another similar year in 2020.

For comparison, Luplow’s best season prior to 2019 for hitting, regardless of where, college, minors, and majors were 23 home runs in 2017. He had 414 at-bats that year and played in 117 games.

Luplow should hopefully negate the loss of Yasiel Puig, especially if he continues to improve. Luplow has shown the ability to be patient at the plate and to take what he’s offered. He’s not going to try and force too many things, which allows him to get on base pretty frequently comparatively. His OPS isn’t great, just under a 1.000, but with more reps that could be a thing of the past.

He should get a shot to start every day but Oscar Mercado and Domingo Santana might make that hard. Hopefully, Luplow is given a fair shake, as he can put up similar numbers, if not better, than Mercado and Santana if given the chance.

Assuming 2019 wasn’t a fluke.