All the analysis of the Indians' Opening Day lineup can finally come to an end. Manager Terry Francona gave some clarity Wednesday about how the club will handle both center field and first base to begin the season by starting Jordan Luplow and Yu Chang.

Francona said that because Tigers left-hander Matthew Boyd will be on the rubber, Luplow will get the start in center over Ben Gamel, and Chang will play first base over Jake Bauers.

So much of the focus this spring was on Bauers and Bobby Bradley, but because both are left-handed hitters, it didn’t make sense for both of them to make the Opening Day roster. So the Indians tried to move Chang over to first base to see if his bat could get in the lineup there against southpaws, and the club was pleased with how his transition worked out.

“That's what we've been kind of pointing to the last week, 10 days of camp, is having [Chang] over there against left-handers,” Francona said. “That's why we had him play two games and a 'B' game and we put him over there several times in the last bunch of 'A' games, to get his comfort there. The way he's swinging the bat, he deserves a chance to play some. Against a lefty seems to make sense. It just so happens that Opening Day they're pitching a lefty.”

• Opening Day FAQ: Tribe vs. Tigers

The expectation was for Luplow to get more at-bats against left-handed pitching. In 274 career plate appearances against righties, Luplow has hit .193 with a .589 OPS. But in nearly the same number of plate appearances against lefties (269), he’s batted .275 with a .982 OPS.

Chang may be a little less experienced than Luplow, and he has yet to establish himself at the big league level, but the Indians are encouraged about his offensive upside after his performances in Spring Training this year and Summer Camp last July. The Tribe thinks he’s more prepared now than he was in his short stints in the Majors in 2019 and ’20.

“I think he went from a kid to a man,” Francona said. “Even when you watch him in his uniform, he's stronger, he's more agile, he's more sure of himself. Are there going to be hiccups? I don't know. There usually are. But he's situated to handle things better than he has in the past. You watch him at the plate, he looks confident. Even when he fouls balls off, you'll see him with a little smile on his face like, 'Man, I just missed that.' I just think he's maturing and growing up.”

Clarity on the bullpen
The Indians already told Emmanuel Clase, Nick Wittgren and James Karinchak to expect to pitch late in the game -- not necessarily the ninth inning -- when the Tribe has a lead. There’s not going to be one main closer to start the year, and it’s not just because of the inexperience that Clase and Karinchak both possess.

Francona has said since the start of camp that he doesn’t want to pigeonhole one of his relievers (especially if he believes it’s his best reliever) in the ninth inning when the most dire situation of a game could occur in the seventh. But this split workload is something that the team told all of its relievers to expect.

“You want to keep workloads under control,” Francona said. “Especially those first two weeks. The bell rings and everybody tends to forget we're still a couple days removed from Spring Training. You want to limit ups and downs. Until they get into the rhythm of the season, you don't want to ruin somebody's season the first two weeks.”

Allen staying sharp
The last thing the Indians would want is for Logan Allen, who was the highlight of their camp this spring, to sit for too long before he pitches in the Tribe’s home opener on Monday. The club has yet to determine if Allen will start that game or piggyback an opener, but to keep him as sharp as he’s been, he’ll use the off-day on Friday to pitch in a simulated game against the Tribe’s taxi squad, including Harold Ramirez, Ryan Lavarnway and Ernie Clement.

“[The taxi squad] can't work out with us,” Francona said, “but because it's an off-day, they will come in after we work out.”

It’s not the desert anymore
There’s no way around it: It’s going to be frosty in Detroit on Thursday. As the Indians make the transition from Arizona to bitter temperatures, Francona hasn’t lost his humor.

“[Thursday is] supposed to be 34 degrees,” Francona said. “I might manage from [Zoom].”