Indians Have Perfect Win Before Changes Could Be Made

 

The Cleveland Indians had a perfect day Wednesday.

While Zach Plesac did allow a run in the top of the first, his offense was there to help and the Indians cruised to a 7-2 victory.

Franmil Reyes hit two home runs, and both Jose Ramirez and Cesar Hernandez added one apiece.

All four blasts came in the first three innings of the game.

Franmil has hit 867 feet of home runs today.

It's the 3rd inning. pic.twitter.com/uxJrdbtMVQ

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 28, 2021

The win bumped the team to 50-49 on the year as they head into an off-day Thursday.

As fans may recall, the trade deadline arrives Friday afternoon.

That means the roster could look a bit different by the time Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox begins.

 

Enjoying A Normal Win

Cleveland wins it 7-2. Season record improves to 50-49.

Franmil Reyes hits two home runs, Cesar Hernandez and Jose Ramirez hit one and Zach Plesac allows 2 ER in 5 innings with 4 Ks.

— Ryan Lewis (@ByRyanLewis) July 28, 2021

Plesac going five strong innings and the offense providing real run support is a sight for sore eyes in 2021.

The Indians are dealing with key absences in the starting rotation and before Plesac returned, it was truly a unique result every single night where no one knew what to expect.

Things have settled down a bit recently with Cal Quantrill also stepping up, but this is still not a normal rotation situation.

The plan going into the year was Plesac dominating alongside Aaron Civale and Shane Bieber.

In terms of run support, Ramirez and Reyes were seen as the two big bats.

Having that plan come together the game before the trade deadline sure is fitting.

Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak combining for two scoreless innings to close out the game provided a nice sense of normalcy as well.

 

Expecting Moves To Be Made

Hernandez hit his 18th home run of the season and drove in three runs in the win.

Will he even be on the roster come Friday?

The veteran second baseman is one of the top names rumored to be on the trade block.

Trading him could allow Andres Gimenez to come back up with a bit of position shuffling on defense.

Hernandez also has a $6 million club option in 2022, making him more valuable than a usual rental.

Aside from him, Eddie Rosario remains the most likely player to be traded.

Teams may just want to learn about the true nature of his health status before making any move.

At this point, there is no reason for the Indians to put him back in the lineup with the young talent on the roster.

And if there is no intention of keeping him in 2022, not trading him would be a shock.

The Indians being off Thursday allows the front office to make some moves and potentially have new players in the dugout for Friday.

That is, if the Indians were to acquire any MLB-ready talent in these small deals.

Doing such a thing could change the narrative of how the rest of the season will be viewed in terms of competing.