Cleveland Guardians: The 2022 Opening Day Dream Lineup

9. Bradley Zimmer, LF, Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland won’t be able to fix all their problems this offseason and if there’s one spot that can be put off for a year it would be an outfield spot. The club has a plethora of options, just none of them have separated from the pool. Harold Ramirez showed signs early, but tapered off. Daniel Johnson and Oscar Mercado just haven’t been able to hit a groove. Oscar Gonzalez and George Valera are the future, but won’t be ready.

That leaves us with Bradley Zimmer. Of the options, Zimmer, arguably, showed the most potential and consistency across the board. He was far from perfect, but he can hold down the fort if needed.

The good news for Zimmer is that he saw success at the bottom of the order. Having moved all over the order, no sample size is exactly large, but the ninth spot of the batting order was actually his best.

Logging 42 official at-bats from the ninth spot, Zimmer slashed .333/.420/.429 with a double, a home run, four RBI and four stolen bases. He didn’t hit higher than .244 at any other spot in the order. So, if it comes down to needing an outfielder to bat ninth, Zimmer is clearly the choice.