Cleveland's number one prospect and great center-field-hope Bradley Zimmer got the call to join the big club on Tuesday, making his debut at home against the Rays. This move is much sooner than I had expected but has been brought on out of necessity. Since Abraham Almonte hit the disabled list (and Brandon Guyer and Austin Jackson are still unavailable too), Zimmer will replace Abe and slot straight into center field, likely pushing Lonnie Chisenhall back to his customary corner outfield spot. Zimmer has taken the number 4 jersey, formerly worn last year by fellow outfielder Coco Crisp.
Zimmer was the Indians’ first-round pick in 2014 and has developed nicely in the past few years. This season he's gotten off to a particularly fast start at Triple-A Columbus and was hitting .294/.371/.532 with 5 home runs and 9 stolen bases at the time of his promotion. He altered the mechanics in his swing in the Arizona Fall League and so far it's been working wonders for the 24 year-old.
Perhaps the largest issue that has plagued Zimmer's rise through the minor has been strikeouts. His K% (strikeouts per plate appearance) has progressively increased each season and at each level of the minor leagues. It has consistently hovered in the mid twenties but got as high as 37.3% in Columbus last year, albeit in a small sample of just 37 games. It's something that will be worth keeping an eye on during his major league development. For instance, in his debut last night he struck out in all 3 at-bats... Not exactly the best first impression when you take into account his previous history.
However we should shed some light on what he does well, and what he offers this Indians team. Zimmer had a very impressive spring training in Arizona and we finally got to see some of that stellar defense in center field that we had heard so much about. When compared with the Tribe's other center field prospect Tyler Naquin, it's pretty clear Zimmer is the superior defender, in fact he's considered the top defensive outfielder on the roster. His 6-foot-5 frame glides to the ball with zero effort. Francona said, "as he gets to know the league, you're going to see an above-average defender."
It is wise to temper our expectations somewhat with Zimmer; it's unlikely he will provide the same sort of spark that Francisco Lindor did when he first joined the Indians. However, given the Tribe's outfield struggles so far in 2017, Zimmer can really help this club right now, with some solid defense and a good eye at the plate. Even if he's just average with the bat, his defense should help the team enormously.
Welcome to Cleveland Bradley.
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