RubberDucks Full of Top Prospects in 2016

At times during the 2015 season, the Akron RubberDucks were an afterthought among fans checking the box scores of the Indians’ affiliates. Before Bradley Zimmer was promoted to Akron (and after he was injured), the team was largely without any top prospects. In fact, Mike Clevinger was the only player in 2015 to play the majority of his season in Akron who is universally considered a Top 10 prospect in the Indians’ system.

Luckily for those looking forward to following the RubberDucks this year, 2016 will be a completely different story. While minor league rosters aren’t finalized, it seems a sure bet that the Indians’ top two prospects, outfielders Zimmer and Clint Frazier, will open 2016 in Akron.

Zimmer played in 49 AA games in 2015, and initially performed very well, carrying a .774 OPS with six home runs and 11 steals in his first 42 games. However, in his final seven games, he went 1-27 and struck out 12 times. As a result, his end-of-season slash line left much to be desired, at .219/.313/.374. It was later revealed Zimmer was playing with a hairline fracture in his right foot, which would provide some explanation for the former first-round pick’s late season struggles.

Now healthy, Zimmer will look to continue what has made him the Tribe’s consensus top prospect and a Top 30 prospect in all of baseball. A five-tool player, Zimmer has impressed with a .835 OPS, 22 home runs and 56 stolen bases in his first two years in the minor leagues. If he starts the 2016 season strong, a June or July promotion to AAA Columbus is a real possibility. At 23 years old, Zimmer is already very polished. Though he still has some things to work through, like his 25.2% strikeout rate in 2015, he isn’t far away from being MLB-ready.

Even if Zimmer ends up promoted mid-season, fans still can look forward to seeing another top prospect in the RubberDucks’ outfield. After Frazier tore up High-A ball while playing for the Lynchburg Hillcats in 2015, and also put up good numbers in the Arizona Fall League, Frazier is now set to take on the challenge that is AA baseball.

After a less-than-stellar 2014 at Low-A Lake County, some began to question if the fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft could live up to his potential. He was striking out far too frequently (29.7 K% in 2014), and wasn’t showing the elite power that scouts raved about while Frazier was in high school (18 home runs in his first 164 minor league games).

However, his 2015 season put many of those concerns on hold. After advancing to High-A, Frazier saw improvements across the board: his ISO jumped from .146 to .180, he increased his walk rate by 1.3%, and cut his strikeout percentage by 8.4%. Scouts still insist Frazier is far from a finished product, but his marked improvement while advancing a level gives fans plenty of reason for optimism. Unlike Zimmer, Frazier is likely to spend most or all of the 2015 season in Akron, even if he puts up big numbers. At just 21, the Indians will not rush Frazier’s development.

Though Zimmer and Frazier will deservedly get the spotlight at Canal Park, there are plenty of other players to keep an eye in Akron this season. Nellie Rodriguez, a soon-to-be 22 year-old first basemen, is regarded as a Top 20 prospect in the system, and could be the right-handed power bat Tribe fans have desired for years. Last year he hit 17 home runs and carried a .852 OPS and a .220 ISO in 108 games at High-A Lynchburg. He spent 25 games in Akron towards the end of the season, and struggled mightily, going just 11-93. He still flashed his power, as four of his hits were home runs, but it goes without saying he will need to hit with more consistency to keep progressing in the Indians’ system.

There are also a couple of intriguing pitching names who will see time in Akron – most notably Adam Plutko and Rob Kaminsky, who are both regarded as Top 20 prospects in the Indians’ system. Plutko will likely open his season in AA, but a promotion will be in the works if he has early season success. He is 24 years old, and has already performed well at AA. The UCLA product started 19 games for the RubberDucks last year, and posted an impressive 2.56 ERA and 3.37 FIP. He doesn’t have excellent strikeout ability, as he just managed a 6.96 K/9 last season, but he also has demonstrated great control: he has never walked more than 2.05 batters per nine innings in his minor league career.

Meanwhile, after Kaminsky’s 2015 was cut short due to injury, he might open the year in Lynchburg, but he has already pitched well in 19 career High-A games, as he has posted a 2.24 ERA and has impressively allowed zero home runs. So long as he doesn’t struggle early in 2016, he could be promoted to AA in the very near future. Acquired for Brandon Moss from St. Louis at the trade deadline last year, Kaminsky is advanced for his age at just 21. Most scouts agree the southpaw has a very high floor, and rave over his curveball. He projects as a #3 or #4 in an MLB rotation in a few years.

Even some of the less heralded players in Akron have skills that could translate to the big leagues: Luis Lugo is big southpaw who has shown excellent strikeout ability in the minor leagues (9.2 career K/9), but has struggled with control (3.5 career BB/9) and giving up home runs (0.8 career HR/9) at times. Mike Papi, the 38^th overall pick in the 2014 draft, struggled early in his professional career, but showed why he was so highly regarded as a hitter coming out of Virginia, slashing .271/.383/.427 from June on in High-A.

Eric Stamets, acquired for David Murphy last year, is a top-notch defensive shortstop, who has yet to develop as an offensive threat (.654 career OPS). Eric Haase is a catcher who has shown a lot of pop (.209 ISO in 2015) but also strikes out too much (30.8% K rate in 2015). Lastly, former shortstop and MLB Top 100 prospect Dorssys Paulino became an afterthought after having poor showings in 2013 and 2014. However, he has since moved to outfield, and had a breakthrough last year in Lynchburg, posting a 157 wRC+ in 43 games. Still just 21, a strong year in Akron would put him back on the radar as a legitimate prospect.

Without a doubt, Akron will be the “hot ticket” among the Indians’ minor league affiliates in 2016. Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier alone would be worth the price of admission, but many of their teammates also should give fans reason for excitement. More than anything else, the talent in Akron is a testament to the Indians’ improved drafting in recent years, and fans can look forward to several of the players at Canal Park playing at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario in the near future.

Akron Rubberducks Expected Roster

(courtesy Todd Paquette)

Pitchers

Dylan Baker (DL)
Justin Brantley
D.J. Brown
Jordan Cooper
J.P. Feyereisen
Perci Garner
Louis Head
Ben Heller
Rob Kaminsky
Dace Kime
Shawn Morimando
Jacob Lee (DL)
Michael Peoples
Adam Plutko
Antonio Romero
Grant Sides
Casey Weathers

Hitters

C – Eric Haase (DL)
C – Jeremy Lucas
C – Alex Monsalve
3B – Yandy Diaz
OF/IF – Todd Hankins
2B – Yhoxian Medina
1B – Nellie Rodriguez
1B – Joe Sever
SS – Eric Stamets
CF – Clint Frazier
OF – Bryson Myles
OF – Jordan Smith
OF – Levon Washington (DL)
CF – Bradley Zimmer