Cleveland Indians Draft Outfielder Bradley Zimmer

Tribe Selects Outfielder Bradley Zimmer From University of San Francisco

The Cleveland Indians used their first pick in the 2014 draft (#21 overall) to select outfielder Bradley Zimmer from the University of San Francisco.

Zimmer is 21 years old stands 6’1″ tall 185 pounds bats left handed and plays center field.

Director of Amateur Scouting Brad Grant:

“We are really excited to get Bradley with the 21st pick this year. A really good combination of athleticism, speed, defense, power, and hit. It’s a good combination of tools, he’s had a really good track record of success, he played for Team USA this summer, University of San Francisco and played really well there.”

When asked how long the Tribe was on Zimmer Grant said, “We started to scout Brad back in high school and then scouted him the last three years in San Francisco – scouted him all summer – so we spent a lot of time gathering a lot of information.”

Bloodlines:

Older brother Kyle selected by the Kansas City Royals fifth overall in the 2012 draft.

Twitter: @BZimmer5

Notable Rankings:   

Baseball America ranks him as the #14 best prospect in the draft and Keith Law had him ranked as the fifth best.

The Numbers:

From Paul Hoynes At Cleveland.com: This season Zimmer hit .368 (81-for-220) with 10 doubles, seven triples, seven homers and 31 RBI. He stole 21 bases in 32 attempts, drew 31 walks compared to 34 strikeouts with a .461 on base percentage and a .573 slugging percentage

Chris Crawford ($ Required):

Analysis: There’s a lot of boom or bust in Zimmer, but I think he has the potential to be the second best hitter in this class, and maybe first if Derek Fisher doesn’t perform. If he can play centerfield he could work himself into top ten considerations, but based on talent I see a first rounder who has the chance to produce above average numbers from a corner outfield position and also play upper-echelon defense.

Baseball Prospectus ($ required):

The offensive profile skews toward the hit tool, with a contact-oriented cut that matches pitch plane well and helps Zimmer utilize the whole field. The drawback is that the swing isn’t really geared to lift, making over-the-fence pop a little harder to get to. Still, the hard contact should produce extra bases to the gaps thanks to above-average speed, and he has a chance to be an above-average producer for the position.

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