The Indians announced on Tuesday that they’ve activated outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall from the 10-day disabled list and opened a roster spot by optioning struggling center fielder Bradley Zimmer to Triple-A Columbus.
[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians depth chart]
Zimmer, 25, has turned in quality contributions on the bases and in the outfield this season, but he’s had a dreadful time at the plate, batting just .226/.281/.330 with a pair of homers in 114 trips to the plate. Those struggles are largely a continuation of a poor 2017 second half for the former first-rounder. Zimmer debuted and hit .285/.339/.450 prior to the All-Star break last season before fading badly down the stretch with a .196/.275/.318 line to close out the season. Zimmer struck out at a 33.5 percent clip in the second half last season, and he’s posted an even more alarming 38.6 percent strikeout rate in 2018.
As for the 29-year-old Chisenhall, he’ll return from a calf strain that has held him out of action since landing on the disabled list way back on April 8. He’s made just 21 plate appearances this season in what is likely the most important campaign of his big league career. Chisenhall, who hit .288/.360/.521 in 270 PAs last season, is set to hit free agency for the first time following the 2018 season. While durability appears to be a legitimate concern for him, he’s been productive at the plate in three of the past four seasons and will look to rebuild his stock as best he can in the four months between now and season’s end.
If the Padres and Indians switched divisions, would the Padres win the AL Central and would the Tribe place last in the NL West?
Tribe would win either division and Padres would finish last in either as well.
Padres are certainly better than the White Sox and Royals. So they’d be 3rd. Indians probably 2nd or 3rd in NL West
And better than the tigers
The Padres would contend for first in the AL Central. It’s the most pathetic division in baseball and the Indians should be ashamed that they aren’t running away with it by now
Maybe the Padres would be competing for the division title if they didn’t let Bryan Mitchell pitch.
They’ve gone through a bunch of injuries and have had the worst bullpen in baseball. Would it make a difference if their 3 1/2 game lead were 20 games right now? They know what they need to fix this and will try to get the right combination down in the ‘pen, but the only way to see is to pitch through it.
What kind of question is this?
A hypothetical one
Touché
A waste of time one
A dumb one from somebody who loves their life in hypotheticals…
Good move! Zimmer needs to find his stroke and with Allen playing well on both sides of the ball we won’t have to see much of raja hopefully.
Ever since Zimmer reconfigured his swing, he’s gotten progressively worse. Time to go back to the drawing board and start over. Maybe even learn how to bunt, to utilize that blazing speed.
Also glad to see that Greg Allen is staying. He’s definitely earned it.