CLEVELAND — It is all about turning a negative into a positive for the Cleveland Indians on the injury front.
Although outfielder Bradley Zimmer (shoulder surgery) and shortstop Francisco Lindor (right calf strain) will not be playing in games in the early part of spring training, they are not completely restricted in what they can do physically, and manager Terry Francona is making sure the Indians can hone other skills during the rehabilitation process.
“I told Zim and I told Frankie the same thing,” Francona said after a recent spring-training workout. “I said, ‘Frankie, you’re going to be the best bunter in the league by the time we leave here because that’s something you can do.’
“Same thing with Zim. We’re going to set up on the back field so it doesn’t hurt either one of them. Can you imagine if Zim can get a bunt a week more, what that would mean? They both understand, and I think they agree.”
The 2018 season was an injury-shortened one for Zimmer, as he was limited to 34 games because of a shoulder issue.
Zimmer registered 24 hits in 106 at-bats (.226 batting average) with five doubles and two home runs, nine RBI and 14 runs scored, and was four of five in stolen base attempts. Zimmer drew only seven walks against 44 strikeouts.
Despite being out of action since last June, the Indians are optimistic about his road to recovery.
“I think sometimes, people have a tendency of forgetting Bradley Zimmer,” Francona said. “Now, it’s going to take a while, but man, that kid’s got a chance to be really special. We haven’t forgotten that, but we just don’t have him right now.
“I don’t think it’s fair to him, putting a timetable on it. We all get to see first-hand how hard he works. He has done such a good job. He’s so far, I think he’s ahead of where he thought he’d be, and it’s through hard work.”
Hard work is something that has helped Lindor become one of the most impactful shortstops in the game.
Last season, Lindor led the Indians with 183 hits and 42 doubles, was tied for third in triples, third in runs batted in and second with 38 home runs. Lindor set a club record for lead-off home runs, as he started nine games with round-trippers in 2018.
Through 574 games over his first four years with the Indians, Lindor collected 665 hits, including 138 doubles, 13 triples and 98 home runs, with 310 runs batted in, 377 runs scored and 214 walks drawn against 357 strikeouts. Additionally, Lindor stole 71 bases in 91 attempts.
A three-time American League All-Star infielder, Lindor has a .288 career batting average with .350 on-base, .487 slugging and .837 on-base-plus-slugging percentages.
“He wants to be a part of what we’re doing, so when the guys go out and take their ground balls, he’ll go out there and just be with them,” Francona said.
“Then, with the first group of hitters, he’ll go out, and then, he’ll come back in and do his stuff in here, but he doesn’t want to lose touch with his teammates, which I think is really mature for somebody his age.”
