Way too Early Predictions for Indy Position Players

[Dutton]

Catcher: Whether it’s Jason Delay or a not-defensively-ready-for-primetime Henry Davis, most starts will go here. Ali Sanchez will need to survive a DFA since he has no options left, but he’ll be the #2 if he does. My guess is Carter Bins serves as the #2 if Sanchez is claimed.

1st Base: Malcolm Nunez needs a big year or he’ll fall of the prospect list. Not sure about how many position player spots we’ll keep at Indy, but both Aaron Shackelford and Seth Beer are lefty hitters who could provide pinch hitting and depth at 1B.

2nd Base: I predict that Liover Peguero will beat out Nick Gonzalez for the MLB 2B job. Like Nunez, Gonzalez will need a great AAA performance to keep his top prospect status. An injury in Pittsburgh at 2B or 3B will probably bring him up. Sergio Alcantara should be the primary backup. Shackelford can play here too.

3rd Base: Joe Perez should be the choice here, but he’ll need to ward off lefty-swinging one time AllStar Jake Lamb. A platoon might work. Alcantara could be a defensive replacement.

Shortstop: Alika Williams has so far managed to keep his spot on the 40-man because he’s a fine defender. Alcantara should be the primary backup.

Left Field: Canaan Smith-Njigba is the only AAA outfielder on the 40-man. Billy McKinney will need Smith-Njigba to collapse to get much playing time here. Seth Beer could get a little PT.

Center Field: I sure hope it’s not Ji-Hwan Bae, who I want in Pittsburgh. It’s going to be a fight between Matt Gorski and Gilberto Celestino, both solid righty-hitting defenders with offensive shortcomings. Gorski needs to win this fight or he’ll fall completely off our prospects list.

Right Field: Switch-hitting Josh Palacios will start here unless he beats out Bae for the last MLB roster spot. McKinney will see time here, and so will Celestino.

DH: With all this depth, I think this job will be shared by many of the names already mentioned.

Total # of position players: 15. If that’s too many, I guess Beer goes to AA. 4 guys are on the 40-man.

Need to ponder the pitching now, but I keep hoping for one more MLB signing, so I'll wait a bit.

[Bobster]

I like Palacios but I'm afraid the addition of Olivares may have been bad news for him. Both are strictly OFers but Bae plays OF and also infield. Palacios had a great year PHing (8 for 22 for .364) but was only .239 overall and .227 when not PHing. Generally, the best PHers are good hitters overall. Otherwise, it might just be a 1-season fluke. So I think Bae gets the nod to make the team. Palacios might need someone to open the season on the IL. And if he's out of options (I'm guessing he is), he might not clear waivers to send to AAA for depth. Personally, I don't like the addition of Olivares. I don't think he's good enough to take significant PT away from the other OFers or Cutch at DH. And I'd rather have Palacios on the bench than Olivares just in case that strong year PHing was not a fluke.

[PooperScooper !]

Not much to get excited about, pretty awful in fact.

I want to see that Shackelford guy break out.He has some pop and Bucs could always use that .Struggled in the middle of last season if I remember right. He is my darkhorse prospect for this season.