The Cleveland Indians entered spring training looking to test two outside-the-box theories.
The first – Franmil Reyes could be the power bat their outfield badly needed.
Surprisingly, despite initially unfavorable odds, this experiment may end up working in Cleveland’s favor. Offseason weight loss has helped increase Reyes’ agility, while he’s currently boasting an OPS of 1.663 out in Arizona.
The other theory was that Jordan Luplow could become more than a just a platoon outfielder. After watching him mash lefty pitching in 2019, the Indians were eager to get him more opportunities against right-handers with the hope his splits would eventually become much less bipolar.
So far, the results aren’t there.
Casey Drottar is an Cleveland Indians writer for Sports Illustrated. Subscribe to his podcast, or follow him on Twitter and Facebook