Lonnie Chisenhall to start season on 10-day DL

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona told reporters this morning the RF Lonnie Chisenhall is slated to begin the season on the 10-day disabled list, and that Abraham Almonte made the roster to begin the season.

Chisenhall injured the shoulder after he collided with a wall earlier in Spring Training. When he returns, it is presumed that he will form the lefty portion of a platoon in right field with Brandon Guyer.

Almonte — who is still confused with Altamonte Springs, FL, when you look him up on certain search engines — hit .383/.442/.638 this spring with 3 HR. His role on the team at the beginning of the spring wasn’t clear. Late last season, he helped the Indians during its playoff push, but also served a 81-game suspension for PEDs.

It is interested to speculate on the Indians plan for when Chisenhall returns. The team might carry six outfielders: Chisenhall, Almonte, Guyer, Austin Jackson, Tyler Naquin, and Michael Brantley. That count rises to seven depending on the roster status and defensive deployment of Yandy Diaz. If the team is determined to keep only five, then Naquin or Almonte is likely to be the odd man out. It gets even more difficult if they wish to use only four.

Regardless, there are only five days remaining until the Indians play Consequential Regular Season Baseball in 2017, and the Opening Day roster is one step closer to being finalized.