An exciting summer in Akron only led to a final stretch of disappointment for RubberDucks fans. The Ducks failed to make the playoffs while in contention down the final stretch of the season. Not all was lost, however. This season can still be deemed a success in Akron due to how well the players developed, playoffs or not.
The City of Akron had the pleasure of hosting many talented players this season ranging from Anthony Gallas and Yandy Diaz to Nellie Rodriguez and Bradley Zimmer. The future of Tribe baseball played in Akron this summer.
The RubberDucks were lead by one of the Eastern League’s best pitching rotations. Obviously, in the minor leagues things are very fluid as far as player movement. In Akron, six players started ten or more games on the rubber for the Ducks. Cody Anderson was the pitcher with ten starts, after posting a 1.73ERA in 52.0IP he was promoted, and eventually found success in Cleveland. Aside from Anderson, the other five pitchers that accumulated more than ten starts were Will Roberts, Shawn Morimando, Michael Clevinger, Adam Plutko, and Ryan Merritt. The first four finished the season in Akron, while Merritt was promoted to Columbus near the end of the season.
This starting rotation helped the RubberDucks to the second best ERA in the league standing at 3.19, trailing only Richmond with a 3.12 ERA. Akron also held the league lead in both WHIP (1.19) and strikeouts (1,045).
While those numbers provided are very impressive, the Akron starters can thank the bullpen for their help as well. The bullpen was lead by relievers Josh Martin and Jeff Johnson. Johnson was the team’s closer and performed at an extremely high level throughout the year. He finished the season with 27 saves and a WHIP of 0.90. Martin, on the other hand led the bullpen in innings, he finished with a record of 8-1 while compiling 80 strike outs, and a WHIP of 0.98 in 67.1IP.
Offensively, the RubberDucks were lead all year by infielder Yandy Diaz. Diaz, a native of Cuba, led the team with a .315 average. He was a bright spot all year, and was routinely considered one of the best players in the Eastern League. Diaz is a name that Indians fans should familiarize themselves with very quickly.
Tyler Naquin was also a bright spot for the Ducks before he was called up to AAA Columbus. In Akron, he hit .348 in 34 games.
Tribe top prospect Bradley Zimmer was also a member of the Ducks during the second half of the season. He did face a bit of an adjustment period once he received the promotion to the AA level. In the Rubber City, Zimmer had a slash line of .219/.313/.374. While those numbers are not exactly scorching hot, I will place this under adjusting to a higher level of pitching and a new level of play. The same can be said for first baseman Nellie Rodriguez. Rodriguez struggled upon being called up to Akron. The slugger played in 25 games for the Ducks, posting only a .118 average. The bright side is that four of his eleven hits left the ball park. I have no worries that both will bounce back next season.
As I stated earlier, things may not have finished the most ideal way this season in Akron, but under manager David Wallace, the RubberDucks are trending in the right direction, and the Indians’ farm system is in a good place.
Best Bat: Yandy Diaz
Best Glove: Bradley Zimmer
Best Wheels: Bryson Myles
Best Chance to be an MLB Pitcher: Adam Plutko
Best Chance to be an MLB Hitter: Bradley Zimmer
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