CLEVELAND, Ohio – Indian outfielder Eddie Rosario is among the players scheduled to meet with the media via Zoom on Wednesday, the seventh day of spring training in Goodyear, Arizona. This should be an interesting introduction to a man who has been used to being painted as a villain in Cleveland for so many years.
Rosario has a lifetime average of 0.301 with 22 homers and 47 RBI against the Indians, including an OPS of 1.031 on Progressive Field. It’s enough track record that manager Terry Francona jokingly introduced himself to Rosario on Tuesday saying it was nice “not to hate you anymore”.
Laughs aside, Rosario laughs at the daunting task of bringing Cleveland’s outfield out of the doldrums of more than a decade as one of the worst-batting groups in major league baseball. Last year, Indian outfielders posted a combined 53 weighted runs plus (wRC +), 47% less than the league’s average run production. They hit a combined .191 with just 11 home runs in the 60-game season.
Rosario has a reputation as a free swinger with a story of knocking the ball out of the park. In six seasons he averages 28 home runs and 90 RBI per 162 games. He will no doubt be asked if there will be any pressure on him this season to change Cleveland’s outfield fortunes after the club signed him to a $ 8 million one-year deal.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s training camp is progressing with Shane Bieber, Adam Plutko, Blake Parker, Kyle Nelson, Anthony Gose, Phil Maton and Scott Moss for live punching exercises.
Some of the hits slated for the live BP include Eddie Rosario, César Hernández, José Ramírez, Amed Rosario, Gabriel Arias, Andrés Giménez, Jordan Luplow, Franmil Reyes, Jake Bauers, Bobby Bradley, Oscar Mercado and Josh Naylor.
On the clock:
* Temperatures in Goodyear on Tuesday hit a high of 79 degrees and a low of 45 degrees with plenty of sunshine forecast.
* Francona said the mornings in Goodyear were cool every day despite the glorious weather. “I don’t remember it being so cold in the morning,” said Francona. “We did our one-on-one (player interviews) outside and I was roughly frozen this morning.”
* Important dates: The Indians begin the spring training season on February 28th against the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark.
* They Said It: Francona, a well-known University of Arizona basketball fan, said it just wasn’t the same thing to watch men’s college basketball games without fans in the stands. But it is better than the alternative of not watching sports. “I’ve seen a lot more sport this winter than ever before in my life just because I ran out of Neftlix,” said Francona. “There is only so much to see. It’s nice to turn on something that you don’t know the end of. “
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