A little about me, I am 32 years old and have held a bunch of different jobs as I finished by college degree in a Bluto Blutarsky-esc amount of time. I worked in bicycle shops, helped to open a bicycle parking lot, did moving and was a wedding DJ for part of it. Some jobs I thought were permanent, others I knew were not where I wanted to be.
I dropped out, changed majors and just did not care about a higher education for a bit. I never wanted to be locked into anything. When I turned 26, my father sat me down and passed along this advice “Just because you get a degree in something, does not mean you have to do it the rest of your life. You can always change jobs down the road, but right now, you either need to use the waste receptacle or remove yourself from it so others may use it (cleaned up to fulfill Poobah’s PG rating column request) .”
$%!@ or get off the pot
He was right. I got a degree in journalism and here I am writing this extraordinarily mediocre column that you are regretting reading right now.
The same phrase is exactly how I feel about a group of make or break prospects for Cleveland this season. It’s time for them to either break through and prove they are true major leaguers who can lead this team to wins or they need a change of scenery so a different group of prospects or lottery tickets can get their chance to contribute to winning.
The group in question is Bobby Bradley, Yu Chang, Bradley Zimmer, Daniel Johnson, Jake Bauers and Oscar Mercado. Of this group, at least two of these players need to break out if this team is going to be in the playoffs in 2021.
Bobby Bradley
Bradley was drafted in 2014 by the Indians and worked his way up the minor league ranks clubbing home runs along the way. The Cleveland fan base began to believe he was the hard hitting Prince That Was Promised. In 2019, in 453 plate appearances, Bradley hit 264/344/567 with 33 HR and crushed baseballs that may still be in orbit around Jupiter.
He earned a call up to the majors in 2019 and proceeded to hit 178/245/356 with one HR in 49 plate appearances.
Bradley always had the reputation of being a windmill, and does not walk often enough to justify the breeze production, but in those 49 MLB plate appearances, he struck out 20 times and walked four times. I know we are fine with strike outs in modern baseball, but a 5/1 strikeout to walk ratio is horrendous.
He was sent back down to the minors and spent 2020 in The Phantom Zone (aka the Alternate Training site at Lake County).
Now, Bradley has come to camp 35 pounds lighter and “in the best shape of his life” (mark your spring training bingo card). He was asked about the weight loss and responded, “I just feel lighter on my feet,” Bradley said.
“My first step has gotten a little bit quicker and I feel like I've gained a little bit of range out in the field and I'm just a little more mobile at the plate.”
Cool. That’s what everyone wants to hear, but when you are going to be 25 in May, it’s time to show you belong. If Bradley can post better than a 5/1 K/BB against major league pitching, the starting first base job is his. If not, it’s time for a change of scenery.
Prediction for 2021- We will enter 2022 writing this same column about Bradley, except with a slightly larger sample size against MLB pitching.
Yu Chang
Chang is the master of looking awesome in spring training/summer camp, earning his shot with the major league club and looking seriously overmatched at the plate.
He worked his way up the minor league ranks posting from 2016-2018 a 117, 110, 109 wRC+ (if you do not know about wRC+, click here). Now those numbers were against High A, AA, and AAA pitching, but it’s impressive production.
He got the MLB call-up in 2019 and proceeded to hit 178/286/274 in 84 PA.
He was sent back down to the minors and posted an 88 wRC+ in 288 PA in AAA that season. In 2020, he had a cup of coffee with the MLB club hitting 182/308/182 in 13 PA and spent the rest of the season in The Phantom Zone doing something baseball related. (We really still have no idea what the hell was going on in Lake County. For all we know, they could have been playing Backyard Baseball on the scoreboard between games of Running Bases. It may have been a giant forth grade sleepover for all we know.)
The glove has always been there for Chang, the question is can the bat be passable? Scouts projected him as an everyday shortstop with above average power and on-base, but he has never lived up to the report. He has been a solid defense shortstop with a seriously below average bat.
Here we are in 2021 and Chang is lighting up spring training pitching to the tune of 2 HR in 6 Abs and is looking great according to the coaches. Will is translate to the major league level this season?
Prediction for 2021- Chang will get a shot as a utility guy on the MLB roster and will be below average with the stick. He will be on another team for 2022.
Jake Bauers
Jake Bauers is to me what Lonnie Chisenhall and Casey Blake were to Les Levine, no matter what this guy does- I am just not a fan.
Part of the reason is he was the return for Yandy Diaz, who I am a giant fan of and has been really good for Tampa. I know damn well who he is traded for is not his fault, but it still upsets me.
The other part is his lack of production at the major league level with the bat and the glove. In 2019, he had 423 PA in 2019 and hit 226/312/371 with 12 HR. He spent 2020 in The Phantom Zone playing in intra squad scrimmages (or building blanket forts and eating pizza rolls- you don't know what happened in Lake County last year).
He does not hit the ball particularly hard averaging 87.9 MPH off the bat in his career (MLB average is 88.3) and barrels up the ball at a lowly 5% in 2019 (225th in MLB). Bauers walks 12.2% of his PA at the major league level, but he hits so few baseballs it does not show in his numbers. Bauers does not even strike out a ton! It’s just the story of a man who makes a bunch of weak contact.
Terry Francona told Bauers he will be evaluated as a first baseman in spring training this year, a competition that will consist of Bauers, Bradley, Josh Naylor and Nolan Jones. Jones is probably “not ready quite yet defensively” (aka service time manipulation) and Naylor will probably take one of the two open outfield positions most of the time, unless some other people on this list light the world on fire in spring training. So, first base is looking like a completion between Bauers and Bradley to open the season.
Keep in mind, Bauers is out of minor league options, so if he does not make the club, he will be designated for assignment or traded.
2021 Prediction- Jake Bauers will be the starting first basemen for most of the season, because if I am not a fan of someone for irrational reasons, it usually means they will find a way to succeed. He will be on a different team in 2022.
Part 2 of this column is coming next week
Our buddy Michael Stanley passed away this weekend. He will be sorely missed by his friends, family and all of Cleveland. If you have the means, please give to the Cleveland Food Bank in his name, blast his records at volumes reserved for airplanes, talk baseball with your friends and have a cold one for the legend, Michael Stanley.