There’s a lot going on here. There’s a lot that could go on here. There’s a lot of variables to consider when looking at the infield. There’s some veterans and some rookies. There’s a lot. Let’s take a look.
First Base
This position could have an interesting platoon situation. Colin Moran has shown flashes of what Neil Huntington was hoping he was getting when he targeted Moran as part of the return for Gerrit Cole. Last year was more of the same with Moran. He still has some untapped potential. Moran will have some veteran company this year in Todd Frazier. Frazier was signed last week to a minor league deal. Frazier is on the downside of his career, but still has some pop in that bat. If both Moran and Frazier produce, I could see both being traded by the deadline.
Second Base
Adam Frazier has already been named the starter for the year by Manager Derek Shelton. I think this will be the case barring any kind of trade. I think that’s still possible. Assuming that he’s with the team, Frazier will look to get back on track after a dip in production during the shortened 2020 season.
Shortstop
This is anybody’s guess at this point. Erik Gonzalez started out on fire last season. Then the bottom fell out over the last half of 2020. Kevin Newman dealt with some issues all around including health. Then there’s Cole Tucker who really only played center last year and has yet to hit well in the majors. There are other factors here as well. One of these three could move over to second if Adam Frazier gets dealt. I think that should happen. This will allow management to give playing time to Newman and Tucker and better assess what they have to work with moving forward. There are a lot of prospects coming up who play up the middle. If Tucker and Newman can prove that they can be consistent, they could be part of the future plans or at least trade bait.
Third Base
Ke’Bryan Hayes is the future at third and will get every shot to prove how good he can be.
Bench
The back-ups in the infield could be interesting. With the signing of Todd Frazier, it created a logjam here. Phillip Evans might be the odd man out. He hit well last year and I don’t know if management really wants to bail on a cheap bench guy like Evans. He can essentially play anywhere on the infield and the corner outfield spots. That leaves whichever guy who doesn’t make it out of the shortstop battle. This situation fixes itself if Adam Frazier is traded. If he’s not, I would lean towards releasing or trading Erik Gonzalez. I don’t think he fits. Management knows who he is and what he can do. There isn’t much projecting with Gonzalez at this point in his career. He’s also getting pricey for the amount he produces.
The infield has some interesting decisions that’ll need to be made before camp breaks. It’s really hard to tell who will be left standing when the smoke clears, especially up the middle.
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