If you missed part one, click here
Last week, I started going through the collection of players on the Indians roster 25 or older who are pretty close to being out of chances with the fans and the organization. It could be due to age or multiple blown opportunities.
When I got done writing it, I realized it was really long and if you remember correctly, last weekend was the first weekend the sun was out and it was over 45 in Cleveland since October. Sunny days in March are not the time to ask people to read an opus, unless it’s this Opus. So I broke it into two columns. Plus two clicks for the price of one idea!
The group in question is Bobby Bradley, Yu Chang, Jake Bauers, Bradley Zimmer, Daniel Johnson and Oscar Mercado.
We knocked out the first three last week (again, if you missed it click here).
This week we will cover the last three. If this team is going to make it to the playoffs in 2021, at least two out of the above group need to prove they are above replacement level players.
Bradley Zimmer
Eric Longenhagen, one of the premier prospect writers for Fangraphs said this about Zimmer before the 2017 season:
“Zimmer gallivants from gap to gap using long, efficient strides and is a good defensive fit in center field. He has rare power for the position, the booming thwack of his contact only rivaled in the AFL by Eloy Jimenez and Franklin Barreto. The strikeout issues are real, mostly due to swing length, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Zimmer had career-long issues with contact, at least against lefties. But I’ll live with it if it means getting the glove and pop into the lineup every day.”
Longenhagen is not the only one to say glowing things about Zimmer. Every prospect evaluator on the planet wrote how Bradley Zimmer is going to be an above average centerfielder with the potential of 20 home runs per season power and 20 stolen base speed.
He came up to the majors in 2017 played in 101 games slashed 241/307/385 with 9 HR and 18 SB. He glided around centerfield like a gazelle in the grasslands of Africa and caught every ball that floated into his territory.
Sure, the bat was not what you hoped for, but you could see why everyone was drooling over him in the field and on the base paths.
Until September 10, 2017, when Zimmer slid head first into first base and had his hand accidently stepped on, breaking it and ending his season. (DON’T SLIDE INTO FIRST BASE!)
From that moment, it has been nothing but shoulder injuries, hamstring pulls and broken promises Zimmer will pull it all together and reach levels prospect evaluators were telling us about.
Well, the evaluators got the above average centerfield part correct.
(By the way, the scouting report is here to show you how promising Zimmer once was, not to say “this guy is a ding-dong because Zimmer did not pan out.” Blaming prospect evaluators for baseball players failing in the majors is like blaming the mailman for bringing you bills.)
Zimmer is now 28, he was with the major league ball club to start 2020 and in 50 plate appearances, hit an abysmal 162/360/243, while using a bat which looked like a souvenir bat compared to his frame.
See:
I can not figure out if this looks so awkward because he is so tall and lanky or if the bat is the length a seventh grader should be using.
He was optioned to the Phantom Zone when the team called up Triston McKenzie where I assume he played Manhunt with the rest of the team in Eastlake (you still can’t prove me wrong that Eastlake was nothing more than a fifth grade sleepover!)
Will this be the season we finally get the Bradley Zimmer we were promised?
Prediction for 2021- Zimmer will make this club as a fourth outfielder and will continue to have a below average bat and above average glove and speed. Imagine Billy Hamilton. That is going to be Zimmer this season. He will be playing for another team in 2022.
Daniel Johnson
Daniel Johnson came to Cleveland from Washington along with Jefry Rodriguez (or Cousin Jefry from the Parks Department, according to Matt Dery) in the Yan Gomes trade.
He was the odd man out in an outfield which featured Adam Eaton, Victor Robles and Juan Soto with Michael A. Taylor as the fourth outfielder.
I bring this up because Cleveland has a propensity of finding the talented odd man out in a system and finding a way to bring them in where they can succeed. Daniel Johnson may be another to add to the list.
In 2019, he lit up Triple-A with Columbus hitting 306/371/496 with 9 HRs and a 120 wRC+ in 380 PA.
He started 2020 playing Truth or Dare in the Phantom Zone for some reason I am still trying to figure out. He was called up to the big league club where he received 13 PA. He hit 083/154/083 in those 13 PA. He was immediately sent back to Eastlake and was not seen again in the season. He played in five games with the major league club.
FIVE!!!!
Did you see the outfield the Indians rolled out there in 2020? I have used this stat in a previous column, but you don’t remember it and I am not above repeating myself to pad my word count.
Here is the offensive production of every player who played in the Indians outfield last season. WARNING: Make sure you swallow your sip of beverage before you continue reading.
In 687 PA, the Indians outfield in 2020 hit:
194/270/300 with 11 HR 9 SB, sported a horrendous 54 wRC+ and as a unit, were -0.9 WAR.
39 players single handedly hit more home runs than your outfield.
AND YOU MEAN TO TELL ME DANIEL JOHNSON WAS NOT BETTER THAN THE CRAPTACULAR THAT WAS ROLLED OUT DAY IN AND DAY OUT LAST SEASON?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
What a disgrace. Hell, I could hit 194/270/300 and I have swung and missed in a slow pitch softball game!
(Ok, probably not because major league pitching is amazing and my career came to a halt due to a Cerrano-esc curveball problem. You get my point though)
Johnson is 25 and will turn 26 in July and I would rather see him get a chance in the outfield than watching Bradley Zimmer swing his toothpick six inches above 12-6 curveballs. Alas, to quote the great philosopher Jagger, “You can’t always get what you want.”
According to Mandy Bell, Daniel Johnson is once again looking like he will start the season in Triple-A even though he is hitting 308/357/848 with two HR in 13 PA.
Jagger went on to state, “But if you try sometimes, you find, you get what you need.” I guess the Indians believe I need to see Bauers make weak contact, Zimmer swing kindling and Yu Chang look lost at the dish, more than seeing a guy who has impressed at every level, when he has a chance.
2021 Prediction- Daniel Johnson will get an opportunity in the outfield and will impress, but will once again be on the outside looking in when Cleveland brings back my eternal nemesis, Jay Bruce in June. I will spend the rest of the season at the reception, with a glass of wine in my hand, knowing she was going to meet her connection, at her feet was a footloose man.
SING IT MICK!
The beginning of this makes me uncomfortable. I don’t like Mick making eye contact with me for that long. The flailing when the band kicks in is fantastic though. Mick and ZZ Top have the worst dance moves on the planet, but they are such bad asses, that it looks really freaking cool. If you did anything Mick Jagger does on stage at a wedding, people would be asking your loved ones what drugs you are on and if they could have two helpings of the concoction.
Oscar Mercado
In 2019, Oscar Mercado played in 119 games for the big league club. He hit 269/319/443 with 15 HR 15 SB in 482 PA. Pretty good for a rookie and definitely showed promise for the future. He just needed to walk a little more and improve upon with subpar 4.1 barrel percentage. He was good in the centerfield as well. Had some really good plays and some moments where you could tell he was a converted shortstop. He just needed more reps out there and he would be fine.
In 2020, Mercado was given 86 PA he hit 128/178/174 with 1 HR. He had a cup of coffee in Eastlake during the season and when he came back, it was more of the same.
So what in the blue hell happened last season?
I don’t have a sure answer to this conundrum, but I have a couple hypotheses.
1. 2020 should be thrown out the window because of the starting/stopping of the season and the small sample size.
2. 2019 is the outlier and the league figured him out.
3. It’s a hiccup in what will be an otherwise productive career.
The more I read about the 2020 season and hear players talk about it, I buy the first hypothesis. I am ready to toss 2020 out the window for everyone and just work off 2019 production and assume that averages are averages in a 162 game season.
I know people are going to yell at me for that statement and say things like “So, you don’t think Shane Bieber is a Cy Young contender this season because 2020 is a small sample size?”
I do, I just don’t think Bieber is peak Pedro Martinez. Sorry if that hurts anyone’s feelings.
Anyway, back to Mercado.
He turned 26 back in December, so like many people on this roster, the clock is ticking. 2021 is going to be his best shot to prove he belongs in centerfield for years to come. The tools seem to be there, but he will need to answer the question. Is 2019 is the real Mercado or is 2020 the real Mercado?
2021 prediction- 2019 is the real Mercado. He plays most days in centerfield and hits decently enough to not have to look over his shoulder.
His outfield defense continues to improve along the way.
I believe Mercado will help this team win games in 2021 and in the future. The rest of the players mentioned need a change of scenery, are out of options or blocked by someone who is out of options. I want to be wrong, but it seems like a good chunk of these guys we know the answer to their future with this organization.
Just please tell me this is the season Daniel Johnson gets an opportunity to prove himself for about 25-30 straight games and do not shove him in a platoon with Jordan Luplow.
Also, please tell me this is the season Jake Bauers is wearing another uniform. I can’t watch anymore soft contact when I know I have Bradley and Josh Naylor waiting in the wings to take over first base and clean some of this log jam up.
I won’t hold my breath on Bauers though because if this organization has taught you anything ,it’s this:
