5 Cleveland Indians whose stocks are trending up Summer Camp
Tyler Naquin, OF
Naquin hasn’t had as much as a layoff as Bradley Zimmer, but like his teammate, he needs to remind the organization as to why he’s a former first-round pick.
Naquin tore his ACL playing the outfield last August, and the injury kept him out as the Indians unsuccessfully tried to hunt down the Twins.
Because of the nature of the injury (nine to 12 months recovery time), Naquin wasn’t ready to participate in Spring Training before baseball shut down.
Now, with life working out the way it has, Naquin is poised to be on the roster from day one, and he certainly doing his best to remind Terry Francona of why he deserving.
He doubled twice July 14, and is now hitting .400 (6-for-15) with one home run. It’s only five intrasquad games, but it beats an alternative of slashing .000 with 10 strikeouts.
dark. Next. 3 pre-approved name changes for the Indians
Naquin can hit, posting a .288 lifetime mark (.788 OPS) and he’s great shot to make the roster because he can platoon with Jordan Luplow. Against right-handers, Francona may send Naquin into left, Oscar Mercado to center and Franmil Reyes to right.