Cleveland Indians: Overthinking baseball in February

OF Bradley Zimmer

Where Reyes has a roster spot locked down due to his offense, Bradley Zimmer needs to show his offensive upside in order to break camp with Cleveland. As this site’s leading cheerleader for all things Bradley Zimmer, even I can say things are looking rough over a two-game sample size.

Zimmer, who was once the Tribe’s top prospect, has entered spring needing two major things to happen in order to make the MLB club. The first is to stay healthy all spring. Zimmer has only appeared in 43 MLB games since playing 101 during his debut season in 2017.

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The second thing Zimmer needs this spring is to get hot offensively and force the Indians to find a spot for him. When Zimmer is at his peak, he offers an alternative at lead-off should Francona desire to move Francisco Lindor to third in the order.

Zimmer also offers the versatility that Francona desires as he can play all three outfield positions. From the two games I viewed, Zimmer went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. That simply will not get it done, especially with several of those at bats against the non-MLB pitchers.

In fairness to Zimmer, he does have a few hits this spring, including a HR. I may just be his Kryptonite, so I will try to not watch a game or two in which he plays to help him turn things around.

The issue is, regardless of my jinxing, Zimmer needs to put together some strong at-bats against some MLB caliber arms. The Indians wanted Zimmer to play winter ball, but after a year of rehab, Zimmer chose rest and recovery instead. That means he needs a fast start this spring to not only prove his choice correct, but also to not be sent to Triple-A to knock off rust.