Cleveland Sports Forum

As someone who doesnt follow the minor leagues anymore I heard that Zimmer and Allen had a collision yesterday and Zimmer was on ground. Any update?

Arizona Fall League Hot Sheet for first half week


8. Greg Allen, of, Indians

Team: Mesa
Age: 23
Why He’s Here: .444/.545/.556 (4-for-9), 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2-for-3 SB

With Tyler Naquin and Bradley Zimmer in the fold, the Indians already have center-field talent to spare. Allen only adds to that depth. The Sacramento State product combines speed, defense, contact skills and more than a touch of power into an intriguing overall package. Between high Class A and Double-A this year, Allen hit .295/.416/.413, struck out only one more time than he walked and stole 45 bases in 58 tries.

Not much front office activity at the minor league level. Some teams have announced a batch of DFAs and released minor leaguers but the only Indians transaction in the past 2 weeks was:

Cleveland Indians
Signed: RHP Luis Carlos Garcia

Among the DFAs: Tyler Holt, Frank Herrmann

Awhile back BA did its INternational League top 20 with Zimmer at No. 13, Mike Clevinger No. 14 and Yandy Diaz nowhere to be seen.

Q&A talks up tomorrow's probable starter:

dave (erie pa.): Morimando, merritt, plutko, clevinger, anyone have more than 5th starter potential? Also, is drew stubbs [I hope not!!!] in a good year fair comp for zimmer?

Teddy Cahill: Clevinger certainly does. He has really good stuff, he just needs to find a way to command it a bit better. If he does that, he’s more of a middle-of-the-rotation type. If he doesn’t, he probably ends up in the bullpen. I’ll take Plutko as the next best, but he doesn’t have big upside. He’s long been one of my favorite prospects because he just has a really good understanding of pitching and knows how to get outs. Shawn Morimando and Ryan Merritt are both interesting, but neither has overpowering stuff, limiting their ceiling.

[Didn't bother answering the Zimmer-Stubbs comparison]

Here's the Yandy and Gonzalez question:

Dave (Akron, OH): Hi Ted! Thanks for the chat. How close were Adam Plutko, Yandy Diaz and Erik Gonzales to making the list? Thanks!

Teddy Cahill: As I previously mentioned, Adam Plutko is a favorite of mine. But he was never really in the mix because his ceiling just isn’t as high as some of these other pitchers. Diaz and Gonzalez were thrown around a little more seriously. I think Gonzalez was closer because he’s a solid defender at shortstop, but Diaz is an intriguing player. His biggest downside is his below-average power, but his hittability is there and the Indians have done a good job of adding defensive versatility to his game. Both could be pretty valuable pieces for Cleveland in the near future.

Meanwhile in Arizona:

CLE AFL Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 4 0 1 0 .308 BB (1)
CLE AFL Zimmer, Bradley CF 1 3 1 1 .333 2B (2), 4 BB (6), 2 SB (5) [quite a line!]

We tend to send second line pitchers to the AFT

CLE AFL Frank, Trevor 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 27.00 W (1 - 0)
CLE AFL Peoples, Scott 3.2 4 2 2 1 5 7.11

Meanwhile:

CLE DL Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 2 0 0 0 .000 2 BB (2)
CLE MPL Choice, Michael RF-LF 4 1 1 2 .250 HR (1)
CLE VL Medina, Yhoxian 2B 1 0 0 0 .211
CLE VL Urshela, Giovanny 3B 4 0 1 0 .294
COL DL Tapia, Raimel PR-LF 0 0 0 0 .143

I saw where Zimmer hit a homer the other night. I think it was Friday. He had a couple walks and a SB the same game.

That same night I think Frankie Mejia made his Dominican debut with a hit in 1 at bat.

Greg Allen hit a triple on Saturday in Arizona and was hitting .333 at the time.

Nellie made his debut in the Dominican yesterday with 2 walks.

Before the homer, Zimmer had been tabbed as No. 4 on the first week's Hot Sheet for the AFL:


4. Bradley Zimmer, of, Indians

Team: Mesa
Age: 23
Why He’s Here: .286/.615/.571 (2-for-7), 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBIs, 5 BB, 3 SO, 2-for-2 SB

The Scoop: Zimmer had his fair share of strikeouts this year, but he also showed the same tool-rich ability he has since his first-round selection in 2014. He walked five times in the three games this week, but when he did swing, he carded a pair of extra-base hits and swiped two bags as well. Zimmer and Mesa teammate Greg Allen give the Indians enviable prospect depth in the outfield even with Clint Frazier traded to the Yankees.

IF he could just hit lefties reasonably well Zimmer could be a very hot prospect.

Don't forget the AFL is a hitters paradise. Very weak pitching. If you don't hit in the AFL, you won't hit anywhere.

That is correct. Z is drawing a lot of walks. That's a good thing. If the world consisted of only righthanded pitchers he'd be a Top 10 prospect. Since it doesn't he will battle Naquin for platoon job in center.

Zimmer and Naquin both hit left handed so platoon wouldn't work. I think eventually we'll see one of them make the move to RF.

CLE AFL Allen, Greg RF 3 1 1 1 .333 2B (2)
CLE AFL Zimmer, Bradley CF 3 1 1 1 .304 [Yes I am aware he hits Left, my point was that one of them would be the Lefty part of a platoon, unless either can improve his hitting vs LHP]
CLE DL Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 3 0 0 0 .000 BB (3)