Cleveland Indians: Bradley Zimmer’s emergence has saved the outfield
Bradley Zimmer, the young outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, began this season as an afterthought.
After starting last season in AA-Akron and finishing in AAA-Columbus, Cleveland Indians center fielder Bradley Zimmer struggled to a .250 average between the two leagues, while striking out a whopping 171 times in 468 at-bats, according to baseball-reference.
Ideally, the Tribe would have been happy if Zimmer hit for a better average and improved his plate discipline in Columbus, OH this year, without having to get his first taste of the Majors.
However, things obviously did not go the way the team planned with the team’s outfielders.
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Tyler Naquin, last year’s breakout outfielder, lasted just six games in Cleveland this year. He hit .235 before his demotion to AAA per baseball-reference.
Then, Naquin suffered a back injury and the Columbus Clippers placed him on the AAA-DL. He was not activated until just over two weeks ago.
Abraham Almonte has missed significant time with a biceps injury. Brandon Guyer was activated this week after a wrist injury kept him out since mid-May.
Lonnie Chisenhall spent time on the disabled list earlier this year. Even Michael Brantley missed time with his wife having a baby, followed by an ankle injury. Now, Austin Jackson is on the DL with a left quad strain.
With all of this chaos in the Indians outfield, the team called up Zimmer from AAA after his strong start. He hit .294 with and five home runs in his first 33 games.
Cleveland would have been happy if he simply stayed healthy and was able to hit above the Mendoza Line. Instead, the young lefty has taken the league by surprise.
In his first 40 games in the MLB, Zimmer has hit .289 with four home runs and 22 RBI. He has stolen seven bases in eight attempts and has cut his strikeout percentage down by nearly eight percent from last season.
Zimmer has also been great defensively, making a few tremendous catches while not yet committing an error.
His consistency at the plate and in the field has been invaluable to the team thus far. Since his call-up, Zimmer has anchored the outfield on a near nightly basis. Even his .259 batting average against left-handers is above average for the Indians as a team (.258 average).
There was no doubt that the top prospect would be a key piece for the Indians in the future, but the future is now. The way Zimmer has played, along with Brantley and Chisenhall, could allow the Indians to focus their attention on improving the starting rotation at the deadline instead of the outfield.
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While third baseman Jose Ramirez has been the MVP of the team so far, Zimmer’s performance and impact cannot be overlooked.