Cleveland Indians Promote Bradley Zimmer
With a rash of injuries in the outfield to start the season, the time has finally come for the Indians top prospect to make his big league debut.
Going into the 2017 season, the Cleveland Indians were the clear favorite to not only win the American League Central, but perhaps to repeat as American League Champions. With their strong rotation and bullpen both intact, and the addition of Edwin Encarnación, the Indians clearly had one of the best rosters in all of baseball.
Despite this preseason advantage, the Indians have found themselves off to a slow start, as they currently sit at just 20–17 through the first month and a half of the season, which puts them in second place in the AL Central behind the surprise Minnesota Twins. Things haven’t really gone well for the Indians to this point, but they have done enough to stay afloat.
However, the Indians continue to pile up injuries, specifically to the outfield. Not only does the team have both Brandon Guyer and Austin Jackson on the disabled list, but Abraham Almonte was also recently placed on the DL. Tyler Naquin would be a logical call up if not for his injured status, leaving the Indians with few options. With so few options, the Indians have decided to make a big move and call up outfielder Bradley Zimmer for his major league debut.
Ranked as the Indians number one prospect before the season, and 19th in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, Zimmer now finds himself in a bare-boned Indians outfield. Both Lonnie Chisenhall and Michael Brantley have been good for the Indians this season in the outfield, but the Indians lack the depth needed. It’s unclear if Zimmer will be getting full time playing time right away, but he should see a good number of at-bats.
After struggling in his first taste of Triple-A at the end of last year, Zimmer is off to a hot start this season in Triple-A with a .294/.371/.532 slash line over his first 132 at bats with a 153 wRC+. Zimmer will have to make some adjustments at the big league level after getting less than 300 at-bats at Triple-A, but the Indians feel that Zimmer is ready to make the jump. With a good feel for hitting and strong on base skills, Zimmer could be an important top of the order bat for the Indians long term. More importantly for the Indians, Zimmer plays a more than capable center field and gives them a better option there than playing either of Brantley or Chisenhall out of position.
Zimmer may not have the sort of immediate impact as Cody Bellinger had upon his call up to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but if Zimmer can put up a strong showing while Almonte, Jackson, and Guyer remain on the disabled list, he could find himself staying in the bigs for the remainder of the season. Only time will tell, but for Zimmer there is no more waiting.
