The Indians’ top two prospects in the system are both roaming the outfield for the Double-A RubberDucks, but that’s one of the only similarities in their respective seasons.
Outfielders Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier, the Indians’ No. 1 and No. 2 prospects according to Baseball America, respectively, have taken different routes two months into the 2016 season.
Frazier has continued to tear through opposing pitching. Zimmer, meanwhile, is going through his first extended slump since the Indians drafted him in the first round in 2014.
Zimmer as of this week was hitting .226 with a .357 on-base percentage, nine home runs, 11 doubles, five triples, 37 RBI and 20 stolen bases. It isn’t up to Zimmer’s expected level of production as the top prospect in the system and one of the top 25 prospects in the league prior to this season according to ESPN’s Keith Law.
And it’s not something he’s gone through as a professional.
“It’s kind of been up and down for me,” Zimmer said this week. “I’m going through a rough patch right now. I just haven’t been swinging the bat well. It’s as simple as that. The team’s been playing well, so it’s been fun to be a part of, but I’m looking to build off the team winning and hopefully I can pick myself up in the next couple weeks.”
The club’s message to Zimmer: Better to experience a slump now than when he gets to the big leagues. The hope is that with it, lessons are learned.
“Our message is that this is great, we want this to happen here and not in Cleveland,” RubberDucks manager Dave Wallace said. “These first couple months, I think he’s the guy other teams have pointed out and said, ‘We’re not going to let him beat us.’ He’s gotten pitched really tough. He’s seen a lot of hard stuff in and he’s working to make the adjustment. We feel confident in what he’s doing.”
As he works through something that’s been new to him, it’s as much about relaxing as it is about attempting to correct his course.
“I think I’ve been trying a little too hard at times and that’s been frustrating,” Zimmer said. “I think it’s something you go through and it makes you better. I’m just trying to relax and get back to my old ways and have fun out there.”
Frazier is having no such issues offensively. He’s hitting .296 with a .392 on-base percentage, six home runs, 18 doubles, 25 RBI and six stolen bases against his first taste of Double-A pitching.
Frazier has long been complimented on his above-average bat speed, which allows him to get away with some mechanical flaws and occasional late timing. The Indians have also seen an uptick in his daily routines and work in the batting cages.
“We’ve just been really impressed with how his preparation and his development up until this point has translated onto the field,” Wallace said. “Sometimes you see flashes of it in some guys and then they are back-and-forth, inconsistent. His consistency has been the most impressive part for me.”
Frazier hasn’t profiled as well defensively in center field as Zimmer, and his bat has fit the mold more of a corner outfielder. Because of that, Frazier, who previously spent most of his time in center field and right field, has spent the past couple of weeks being introduced to extended exposure in left field.
The Indians want his bat ready for whatever the situation might warrant once his name is ready to be called up to Cleveland instead of being “pigeon-holed,” as Wallace put it, to one position. As Frazier’s bat has progressed to the Double-A level just fine, transitioning to left field has been an ongoing task.
“It hasn’t been that it’s difficult, it’s being comfortable out there in left,” Frazier said. “I think I have the athletic ability to cover the ground, to make sure I’m in the right position. It’s just being acclimated in that spot and being comfortable in left field. I’m working toward that every day.”
The Indians’ top two prospects have spent the last two months playing side-by-side, and it might not be long until one or both make the jump to Triple-A Columbus. Their paths this season, though, have taken opposite turns.
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.