Cleveland Indians: 4 Prospects to Watch for in 2017

Bradley Zimmer

The Indians’ number one prospect, Bradley Zimmer, has had a bit of a rough time in the minors.

When Zimmer was drafted, he was projected as a high contact, low power hitter. His power was supposed to develop, but he was not projected to ever be a power hitter. Having worked his was through the system and spending half of last season in Columbus, Zimmer has shown the opposite.

His career batting average sits at .268, but he only hit .250 in 2016 between Akron and Columbus. He did, however, slug 16 home runs in 2015 and 15 in 2016.

Zimmer has spent time both at the top and the middle of the batting order in his minor league career. If he were to be brought up this season, he would likely be suited for the 7-8 spot in the lineup, with the potential to develop into a top three hitter.

While the Indians were playing in the World Series against the Chicago Cubs, Zimmer was participating in the Arizona Fall League, were he represented the Indians organization well by winning the Bowman Hitting Challenge against other top prospects from around the league.

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With Naquin and Almonte being major question marks going into 2017, Zimmer will likely see the majors as soon as one of the two starts struggling. Zimmer would be an instant starter in center field, and could see the instant success that Naquin and Lindor saw when they debuted.