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Cleveland Indians Minor League News:  Zimmer, Paulino Promoted and All-Star Games Galore

By Matt Bretz

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Zimmer Promoted to Akron

Cleveland Indians top prospect Bradley Zimmer has been promoted to Double-A Akron after a monster first half with the Advanced-A Lynchburg Hillcats.

The promotion comes as no surprise to anyone that’s been following him this year. Zimmer is top three in numerous Carolina League categories including:  home runs, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and weighted runs created (wRC+).  He lead the league in both SB (32) and wRC+ (160) at the time of his promotion as well.

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The Indians knew they were getting an advanced college bat when the drafted him just over 13 months ago, but the power has been a pleasant surprise. Known for his hitting and speed he’s displayed very nice power this year (10 HR). It will be very interesting to see how his bat and power translate to Double-A and that huge ballpark in Akron (one of the tougher parks in the minors for power).

The big league club in Cleveland has loads of talent, but the one area they are a bit weak on right now is centerfield. The Indians could very well have that future centerfielder just in Northeast Ohio already.  With this promotion Zimmer could very well be placing himself in a position to see some big league action as early as the 2016 season.  He’s still got some big hurdles to jump but make no mistake, he’s an exciting player and one that has all the tools to make it in the big leagues.

Paulino Promoted to Lynchburg

Seemingly taking the place of Zimmer is fellow Indians outfield prospect Dorssys Paulino who was promoted to Lynchburg today from Class-A Lake County.  

Paulino is a 20-year old converted shortstop who is having very solid year down on the farm.  He’s hitting .256/.319/.364 with six home runs and 11 stolen bases.  Paulino is a former top ten Indians prospect who ran into some issues early in his career, specifically defensively at shortstop. The Indians made the decision to switch him to the outfield last year and thus far it seems to have paid off. He was recently named the Midwest League Player of the Week as well.

All-Star Games Galore Tonight

Not only is the Major League All-Star Game happening tonight, but both the Double-A and Triple-A All-Star Games will happen tomorrow night.  The Double-A game Tribe fans should be interested in is of course the Eastern League All-Star Game, which will have five Akron Rubberducks players suiting up for the Western Division All-Stars. 3B Yandy Diaz, OF Anthony Gallas, 2B Todd Hankins, RHRP Jeff Johnson, and RHRP Josh Martin are the Akron All-Stars this year.  Both Diaz and Johnson were elected via fan voting.

Diaz is having arguably the best year of any of the Rubberducks All-Stars.  He leads the Eastern league with a .418 OBP thanks to his 55 walks (also league leading) and .314 batting average (fifth in league).  Johnson is tied for fourth in the Eastern League with 14 saves while posting a miniscule 1.34 ERA out of the Akron pen. The Eastern League All-Star game will take place at 7:05 EST Wednesday night in Portland, Maine.

The Triple-A All-Star Game will see the International League All-Stars take on the Pacific Coast League All-Stars.   The Columbus Clippers have three representatives participating for the International League All-Stars.  1B Jesus Aguilar, OF Tyler Holt, and RHRP Shawn Armstrong will represent the Clippers.  In addition to participating in the All-Star Game tonight, Jesus Aguilar participated in the Triple-A Home Run Derby last night in Omaha.

He didn’t win but it was a strong showing from the big first baseman.  The game will take place tomorrow at 8:05 EST in Omaha, Nebraska.

Next: Could a Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves Trade Happen?

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