Does Mejia have a shot at Opening Day roster?

Prior to the Indians' game against the Rockies on Friday, MLB.com reporter Jordan Bastian answered fans questions live on MLB's Facebook page at Salt River Fields, as part of the latest Edward Jones Beat Reporter's Inbox. Here are some more questions on Tribe fans' minds with Opening Day less than three weeks away.

Barring something unexpected, it appears doubtful that Francisco Mejía will begin the season on the Indians' Opening Day roster.
Per MLB Pipeline, Mejia is not only Cleveland's top prospect, but the top catching prospect in baseball. At the moment, though, the Indians are happy with their Major League catching tandem of Roberto Pérez and Yan Gomes. They are both capable starters who have proven to be among the game's top defenders and have built a strong rapport with one of the baseball's best pitching staffs.
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The 22-year-old Mejia got a taste of the big leagues last season and is definitely knocking on the door again. One thing the Indians are considering -- given Mejia's advanced approach to hitting -- is trying to explore ways to expedite his path to The Show. That is why Mejia played some third base in the Arizona Fall League and why, as manager Terry Francona has hinted, the catcher might play some outfield early in the season.

If something were to happen to one of Perez or Gomes, that is when the real debate will begin about Mejia's readiness for handling the responsibilities of a big league catcher on a contending club. Francona has noted that Cleveland added a veteran catcher like Ryan Hanigan in case the organization is not ready to hand the keys to Mejia, if there were a setback with the Major League catchers.

That is a tough call, but I'd give the edge to Perez at the moment. Earlier this spring, I dove into that very debate on my blog. According to Baseball Prospectus' version of WAR, which includes defense, Perez (1.81) was slightly ahead of Gomes (1.63) last season. Per BP, Perez had 12.5 framing runs, compared to 0.7 for Gomes. Perez (1.8) also ranked higher than Gomes (0.4) in blocking runs and posted 14.4 fielding runs above average (versus 3.2 for Gomes). Gomes, on the other hand, had 2.2 throwing runs, compared to 0.5 for Perez.

As things currently stand, Lonnie Chisenhall projects to get the bulk of the playing time in right and Bradley Zimmer is set to earn most of the innings in center. If both Michael Brantley (right ankle) and Brandon Guyer (left wrist) are unavailable for Opening Day, that could open the door for both Rajai Davis and Melvin Upton Jr. to crack the roster as right-handed outfield complements. Francona has noted that Brandon Barnes (in camp as a non-roster invitee, along with Davis and Upton) is also in the mix. Tyler Naquin also has an outside shot at winning the job in left, if Brantley's comeback lingers into the regular season.

Right now, it's hard to envision both Josh Tomlin and Ryan Merritt on the Opening Day roster unless Merritt is given a job in the bullpen. Matt Belisle, Carlos Torres and Evan Marshall appear to be the main three contenders for the lone vacancy in the relief corps, though. If Merritt (out of Minor League options) does not work his way into the Opening Day plans, Cleveland might try to work out a trade rather than just exposing the lefty to waivers.

Since I touched on Davis, Upton and Merritt in the above answers, I'll focus on Yandy Díaz, Gio Urshela and Erik González here. Diaz is currently facing an uphill battle, because the Indians are planning on opening the year with José Ramírez at third base. The Indians will be weighing whether Diaz is best served getting regular at-bats at Triple-A Columbus instead of filling a part-time bench role in the bigs. One of Urshela and Gonzalez -- both out of options -- will win a utility job on the bench, but that race remains too close to call. The priority for that job is defense and it could come down to who Francona trusts more as a late-inning defender at multiple positions.

I think this one comes down to fit more than anything. Say the Indians would have traded Kipnis over the winter, that would've cleared payroll and allowed Ramirez to move to second base. In that scenario, maybe Mike Moustakas would have been a fit. But, with Kipnis very much in the plans for 2018 now, Brantley working his way back to play left and Ramirez entrenched at third, there just isn't room in the inn.

Expect to see Bryan Shaw's innings distributed among Dan Otero, Zach McAllister, Nick Goody and Tyler Olson. I don't think Francona will have designated innings for any of those arms. Instead, the timing of their entrances will be determined by the game situation and the section of the order due up for the opposition. There will be a lot of mixing and matching early on, and maybe one of those relievers grows into a higher volume of high-leverage work.

I plan on putting on a flannel shirt, listening to Pearl Jam and seeing how many coffee shops I can hit in a single day.