Cleveland Indians 2017 top prospects: No. 20, Mike Papi

Once a top five prospect, outfielder Mike Papi now comes in at number 20 on our 2017 Cleveland Indians top prospect countdown.

Who is Mike Papi?

A former top five prospect in the Cleveland Indians’ system, Mike Papi drops another seven spots on our list this season after ranking as our 13th best prospect in 2016. The 24-year-old was drafted by the Tribe in 2014 with their competitive balance pick they received that season.

He was taken 38th overall out of the University of Virginia and signed for $1.25 million. The 24-year-old plays both the outfield and first base and swings the bat left-handed. He began 2016 at Advanced-A Lynchburg for the second straight year but was called up to Double-A Akron midseason.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Papi joined the Indians touted as one of the most advanced hitters in college baseball back in 2014. He hit .338 during his final two seasons at Virginia, including a .381 clip as a sophomore in 2013. However, things have not gone as smoothly for Mike since joining the Indians. He’s hit just .225 in three seasons with the Tribe. Even repeating a level this year resulted in an identical .236 batting average at Lynchburg.

What Papi has excelled at though is getting on base. Despite the .225 average, he has a .348 on-base percentage thanks to a phenomenal 15.4-percent walk rate. Papi also took a big step forward in the power department in 2016. He hit 15 home runs this past year after hitting just four in 2015. Papi will need to continue hitting for power to make up for the low batting average.

Defensively, Papi has spent most of his time in left and right field, though he has played some first base and even started a couple of games in center field. He actually played primarily first base his final year at Virginia, but did play outfield there as well and has made a decent transition back to the spot. Defense will never be his strongest asset but he runs ok for his size and has a good arm, even topping out at 90 mph as a high schooler off the mound.

Where does he go from here?

Things have gone less than ideally for Papi since joining the Cleveland Indians. Originally expected to move quickly through the system, he opened 2016 at the same level he spent all of 2015. However, he was able to get to Double-A Akron in his third year in the system and for all his struggled he was a (slightly) above-average hitter there. He will return to the Rubberducks to begin the 2017 season with his sights set on another midseason call-up.

There’s no denying that Mike Papi has been one of the most disappointing prospects in the Tribe system for a couple of years now. While he made some strides in 2016, he will need to take another big step forward in 2017 to remain a top prospect. Baseball America dropped him from their top 30 list this year and honestly, there was some consideration for that on our part.

Next: Indians 2017 Top 30 Prospects: No. 21, Julian Merryweather

However, he still gets on base at an elite rate and the power increase was enough to warrant a top 20 rating in my eyes. 2017 is a huge year for Papi though as he has already been passed up by some hitters and is at risk of being passed by others.