Browns Sign Third Round Pick LB Christian Kirksey
June 5, 2014MLB Draft: Indians select Justus Sheffield with No. 31 pick
June 5, 2014Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55
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With the first of several early picks in the 2014 First-year Player Draft, the Cleveland Indians added center fielder Bradley Zimmer with the 21st-overall selection.
Zimmer, a 6-5, 205-pound outfielder. As a junior at the University of San Francisco, he hit .368 with 10 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs and 31 RBI. Zimmer, 21, walked 31 times and recorded a .461 on-base percentage. He posted a .573 slugging percentage and was 21-for-32 in stolen base attempts. The two-time All-West Coast Conference member made all 54 starts in center field and owned a .969 fielding percentage in 2014. He was named a 2014 preseason All-American selection by Louisville Slugger, Baseball America and Perfect Game USA. He is also one of 30 finalists for the Golden Spikes Award.
The La Jolla, CA native was named All-WCC during his sophomore season in 2013, hitting .320 with 7 home runs, 37 RBI and 19 stolen bases. His brother, Kyle, was selected in the first round of the 2012 draft by the Kansas City Royals. Zimmer brings a solid combination of power and speed.
Compared to former big-leaguer Paul O’Neil, and leading many lists as the top outfielder in the 2014 class, Zimmer was largely considered to be a top-20 selection. He was ranked No. 10 on MLB.com’s prospect list.
5 Comments
sounds like brad mills version 2.0 – small school power hitter that cant get out of AA. hope im wrong but this front office is god awful at drafting players
**beau mills
always the ray of sunshine. I’ll go with the article’s comparison to Paul O’Neil. I like that one better 😉
As I point every time someone points to the bad drafting of nearly a decade ago, we have since overhauled our scouting department. House, Allen, Kipnis, Chisenhall….
What an outlandish comparison. Zimmer is a potential 5 tool center fielder (not great 5 tool, but above average across the board) whereas Mills was a power hitting first baseman. If anything, he reminds me of Naquin.