Prior to Wednesday night's exhibition against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona announced a slew of roster decisions that have been made.
With that, the Indians appear to have set their 30-man roster for Friday night's season opener against the Kansas City Royals, with the following players now expected to comprise Cleveland's roster to start the season barring any unforeseen changes.
Catchers
- Sandy Leon
- Roberto Perez
Infielders
- Christian Arroyo
- Yu Chang
- Mike Freeman
- Cesar Hernandez
- Francisco Lindor
- Jose Ramirez
- Carlos Santana
Outfielders
- Greg Allen
- Jordan Luplow
- Oscar Mercado
- Tyler Naquin
- Franmil Reyes
- Domingo Santana
- Bradley Zimmer
Starting pitchers
- Shane Bieber
- Carlos Carrasco
- Aaron Civale
- Mike Clevinger
- Zach Plesac
Relievers
- Adam Cimber
- Brad Hand
- Cam Hill
- James Karinchak
- Dominic Leone
- Phil Maton
- Oliver Perez
- Adam Plutko
- Nick Wittgren
The composition of the Indians' roster means that first baseman/left fielder Jake Bauers, as well as pitchers James Hoyt, Jefry Rodriguez and Hunter Wood didn't make Cleveland's Opening Day roster. Veteran Delino DeShields Jr. will begin the season on the disabled list as he returns from a case of COVID-19.
With Major League Baseball playing a shortened 60-game season due to the coronavirus, teams have been permitted to begin the campaign with a 30-man roster for the first two weeks of the season, with rosters dropping to 28 players for the following weeks and 26 players two weeks after that.
The Indians will open the 2020 season on Friday when they host the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field.