Cleveland Indians Francisco Lindor Rated Top-10 Fantasy Prospect by ESPN.com

The Cleveland Indians top prospect, SS Francisco Lindor, is more known for his elite glove at shortstop than his bat, but Chris Crawford of ESPN.com feels Lindor is one of the top-10 fantasy prospects in baseball. Crawford’s updated list is subscription-only, but here’s what he had to say regarding Lindor, whom he ranked eighth.

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Progress report: The Indians (finally) promoted Lindor to Triple-A on Tuesday, and he certainly hasn’t had any trouble adjusting to his new surroundings according to the statistics above. As I’ve said numerous times, Lindor’s “real life” value is higher than his fantasy value; however, a shortstop who can steal bases, hit for average and draw walks is a pretty valuable fantasy piece. Don’t be surprised if Lindor — and not Asdrubal Cabrera — handles shortstop duties as Cleveland tries to make the playoffs for the second straight season.

The Indians obviously are hoping for big things from Lindor, but it’s encouraging to hear he should be able to help contribute on the offensive side sooner rather than later as well.

Though I’d be really OK with getting defense like this in Cleveland whenever the Indians feel like it: