The future is now for the Cleveland Indians as it was a week of change when the team’s two most prized prospects were finally promoted to the Major Leagues.

Third baseman Giovanny Urshela and shortstop Francisco Lindor immediately bring a new look to the left side and likely a significant upgrade in the team’s defense.

Urshela made his debut first between the two when he was called up from Triple A Columbus in time to play June 9th against Seattle. He went 0-for-3 in his first game and then 0-for-1 in his next game. Urshela got his first hit on June 11 against the Mariners and also blasted his first Major League home run as the Tribe won 6-0.

Lindor was called up in time to make an appearance in the June 14 game against Detroit. He didn’t start the game in the field, rather he came in later in the game to pinch-hit for David Murphy as the designated hitter and struck out.

In what probably won’t be forgotten for a while, Lindor then ripped a shot into right field for what should have been a double. However, in the excitement of his first hit, Lindor stumbled around first base and had to scramble back so he limited himself to a single and playfully tried to blame Miguel Cabrera for getting in the way.

Lindor’s promotion came when the Indians put Nick Swisher back onto the disabled list with knee inflammation. Swisher has struggle mightily of late, batting just .097 in his last ten games and .198 for the season. In his last 31 at-bats, Swisher only had three hits, zero home runs and just two RBIs.

The changes mean third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall and shortstop Jose Ramirez are back in the minor leagues and their careers in Cleveland have taken a significant step backwards.

Perhaps the prospect promotion can breathe some life into the team and provide a spark at the bottom of the Tribe’s batting order because the production there has been anemic. At least the defense should be an improvement, one would think.

Meanwhile, Jason Kipnis continues his dominant start to the season and just continues to get on base and rack up the hits. He’s batting .342 in his last 10 games and has a .435 on-base percentage. He’s also slugging .502 for the season and has an outstanding .906 OPS. Michael Brantley also continues to play well as he has hit .314 in his last 10 games and has a .385 on-base percentage during that span.

Sandwiched between them in the batting order is Carlos Santana. It’s just about time for the experiment to end with him the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Santana simply isn’t getting the job done and continues to leave runners on base at a high rate evidenced by his lack of RBI lately. In his last 10 games, Santana has driven in just two runs and is hitting .171 with only six hits in 35 at-bats, one home run and only three runs scored.

The Indians finished last week with a disappointing 2-4 record after taking one out of three against both Detroit and Seattle.

Next up for the Tribe is a two-game series on the road against the Chicago Cubs before both teams head to Cleveland for another two-game set. Then the Tribe will entertain Tampa Bay at home for a three-game series.

Trevor Bauer (5-3, 3.53 ERA) takes the hill in Chicago at 8:05 p.m. on June 15 at Wrigley Field against righty Jake Arrieta (6-4, 3.16 ERA). Lindor is expected to make his first start at shortstop in this game, so there will some high-profile interest to see what he can do.

Bauer’s start will follow a bad game during which he gave up six earned runs on June 10 against Seattle. Arrieta has won has last two starts including his last appearance when he held Detroit to three runs in six innings as part of the Cubs 12-3 win. The game also will mark the first time since 2009 that the Cubs and Indians have faced each other.

Shaun Marcum (3-1, 4.09 ERA) makes the start at 8:05 p.m. on June 16 against lefty Tsuyoshi Wada (0-1, 4.54 ERA). Marcum continues to impress as he pitched seven innings of shutout ball on June 11 against Seattle.

The series will flip over to Cleveland as Danny Salazar (6-2, 3.54 ERA) will oppose righty Jason Hammel (5-2, 2.81 ERA) at 7:10 p.m. June 17 at Progressive Field. Salazar took the loss in his last start against the Tigers on June 12 when he gave up seven hits, three runs and struck out six in the 4-0 defeat.

Carlos Carrasco (8-5, 4.38 ERA) gets the start at 7:10 p.m. on June 18 in Cleveland against righty Kyle Hendricks (2-2, 3.80 ERA). Carrasco earned the victory on June 13 against the Tigers as Cody Allen came in during the bottom of the eighth inning to preserve a 5-4 victory. It wasn’t the best start for Carrasco in that game as he gave up seven hits and three runs in 5.2 innings, but it turned out to be enough to get the job done.

After Chicago leaves town, the Rays will come to Cleveland to play games at 7:10 p.m. June 19th, 7:10 p.m June 20th, and 1:10 p.m. on June 21st. Neither team has announced starters for any of those matchups.