CLEVELAND: Indians outfielder Tyler Naquin has, for the most part, played well this season after forcing his way onto the major-league club with a stellar spring.
Naquin entered Sunday’s game hitting .328 in 25 games with the Indians. He was one of the more intriguing invites to spring camp and has only impressed from there.
He is, though, still learning on the job. The Indians have seen some good signs but also some instances in which his rookie status becomes evident.
“You can tell he’s still learning. And that’s not a bad thing,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “You can tell. He’ll take a swing sometimes and you’ll see him back up. He’s still learning, and that’s OK.”
Naquin was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Friday when Lonnie Chisenhall was placed on the bereavement list due to a death in his immediate family. He recorded two hits in Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, though neither were hit particularly hard.
The Indians feel he’s putting forth enough quality swings to get those kinds of breaks, even if a couple of rookie swings are mixed in.
“The good part is he’s had a knack of finding ways to get hits,” Francona said. “We’ve seen him take a couple awkward swings and then he’ll rifle a ball to left field. So that part’s good. And I think when guys sometimes get hits that are perceived as lucky, I don’t think you get those when you’re swinging bad. That probably doesn’t make much sense, but I believe it.”
Naquin’s departure to Columbus was primarily forced by the construction of the roster.
Chisenhall is expected to return to the club on Monday and be activated on Tuesday, per Francona. Michael Brantley could return off the disabled list later this month.
It likely means Naquin will have to continue to learn on the job in Cleveland and Columbus.
When Naquin was demoted, Francona was impressed with his maturity in understanding the situation, especially as a rookie who was playing well.
“Just, you know, some decisions have to be made based on certain things throughout the organization, you know?” Naquin said on Friday upon his return to Cleveland. “That’s something I understand. But, I’m just glad to be up here.”
Top prospects
The Indians’ No. 1 and No. 2 prospects, both roaming the outfield in Double-A Akron, are each beginning to heat up offensively after average starts to this season.
Bradley Zimmer, the No. 1 prospect in the system according to Baseball America, has hit four home runs and stolen seven bases in his past 10 games entering Sunday. For the season, he’s hitting .246 with an on-base percentage of .369, seven home runs, six doubles, 15 stolen bases and 26 RBI.
Clint Frazier, the No. 2 prospect, is hitting .333 in the past 10 games. He now has 13 doubles to go with a .271 average, .359 on-base percentage, four home runs, 17 RBI and five stolen bases.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ