5 Cleveland Indians prospects who deserve a promotion

These five Cleveland Indians prospects deserve a promotion through the various levels of the Tribe’s minor league system.

The Cleveland Indians have put together one of the best minor league systems in all of baseball. From Triple-A all the way to Single-A short season, the Indians minor league system is seeing some sort of success.

Starting at the single-A short season Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The Scrappers are only 39 games in currently and hold a record of 25-14 Which is good enough for a three game lead in the New York-Penn League Pinckney.

Next the Lynchburg Hillcats tied the Carolina League Northern for most All-Stars with 7. Along with having 7 All-stars they sent a starting pitcher to the Sirius XM Futures game in Triston Mckenzie. The Hillcats currently hold a 22-15 record after winning the division in the first half of the season.

Moving up to Double-A, the Akron Rubber Ducks something special going on. Not only is the team playing well, they have future big leaguers on their roster in Francisco Mejia and Yu-Cheng Chang. Granted Chang is playing behind one of the games best short stops in Francisco Lindor, one day his impact will be felt in the majors.

Finally the Columbus Clippers are 2.5 games back in the International League West. Every year players move up and down from Triple-A to the majors. However, this year we have seen more of an impact with those players.

Guys like Yandy Diaz, Ryan Merritt, Daniel Roberston, Erik Gonzalez and Tyler Naquin have fluctuated between Columbus and Cleveland all year. Then guys like Bradley Zimmer and Mike Clevinger that have flourished in Cleveland this year.

Here is a look at 5 minor league players who have earned a chance to play at the next level.

5. Bobby Bradley, Akron Rubberducks

Bobby Bradley is one of the best power hitters the Indians have in their farm system.

Bradley just turned 21 in May. Cheers to Bobby! In every season Bradley has played in, in his young lustrous career he has hit over 25 home runs. The only exception of this was his first year in the Arizona Rookie League. In only 39 games that season, Bradley still slugged out 8 home runs.

Bradley is the typical power hitter however. He isn’t going to go up to the plate and blow opposing teams away with his average. He isn’t going to slap bloop singles into the outfield. But if a pitcher makes a mistake, Bradley is going to make sure everyone knows about it.

So far in 2017 Bradley has maintained an average of .239. Yes the average does seem a bit low but it is something that he can improve on. As far as power goes, Bradley already has 17 home runs, 67 RBI, and a slugging percentage of .455. All of this while leading the team in At-bats with over 300.

Bradley deserves to be promoted up to AAA Columbus Clippers because the Indians released Chris Colabello right before the All-Star break. Nellie Rodriguez is having a season to forget. Hitting under well under the Mendoza line.

The Columbus Clippers are struggling to find a producing every day first baseman. With the Clippers being in the hunt for a playoff spot, why waste anymore time. Bring Bradley up now.