Naquin, Zimmer are solidifying outfield

Tribe roster rounding into shape as season opener vs. Royals nears

Tyler Naquin is so close now to playing in a game that counts he could close his eyes and smell the Stadium Mustard — if there were any Stadium Mustard to smell, which there isn’t because no fans are in the stands buying hot dogs from vendors who aren’t there, either.

Circumstances in what promises to be a bizarre 2020 season do not take anything away from what Naquin has accomplished since his right ACL was torn crashing into the outfield wall in Tampa last Aug. 30. He made the catch and held onto the ball despite the excruciating pain.

Naquin was the Indians starting right fielder July 20 when the Indians hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates in an exhibition game at Progressive Field, and he will likely be patrolling the same real estate July 24 when the Indians open their 60-game regular season in a home game with the Kansas City Royals.

Naquin would not have been in the lineup March 26 had the season started on time, but the four-month delay due to the novel coronavirus game allowed Naquin plenty of time to complete his grueling rehab and get his strength and confidence back.

“Clearly, I wish what’s going on right now would have never happened,” Naquin said recently, referring to COVID-19. “But as far as my knee, it gave me a lot of extra time and a lot of resources to be here in Cleveland for the three months and get ready for the season and now here it is, and I’m ready to go.”

A healthy Naquin solves one problem for the Indians. Jordan Luplow, who also plays right field, has been battling a back injury throughout spring training 2.0.

Naquin bats left-handed. In normal circumstances, Naquin might face righthanded pitching and Luplow lefties because Luplow hit .320 against lefties

last year, but Naquin has proven he can hit lefties, too. He hit .250 against left-handed pitching in limited chances as a rookie in 2016, but by 2019 upped his average against lefties to .286 (18-for-63) compared to .289 (61-for-211) against right-handed pitching.

The more Naquin hits lefties, the more opportunity he will get. He lined out sharply to left field in the second inning July 20 against Pirates’ righthanded starter Trevor Williams. Naquin singled to center off right-hander Chris Stratton in the bottom of the fourth inning and moved to second on a wild pitch.

“He should be proud of himself, just how hard he’s worked to put himself in the position he is right now,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “It’s hard not to root for him.”

As planned, Luplow took

over in right field for Naquin in the top of the fifth inning. Luplow hit a home run off Pittsburgh’s Richard Rodriguez on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the fifth.

Bradley Zimmer is another player Francona is rooting for. Zimmer is trying to get back into the groove he was in during the first half of 2017 when he hit .285 with 43 hits in 151 atbats. He hit .196 the second half of 2017, was sent to Columbus in early June 2018, injured his shoulder on a practice swing and went hitless in 13 at-bats in September 2019.

But there have been flashes of the Zimmer of old during this spring training reboot. He doubled down the left-field line in the third inning July 20 off Williams and scored off a base hit to right by Jose Ramirez.

“Zim has changed his stance, and although it

looks a little unorthodox with his hands, he’s able to get himself in a position where he can use his tools,” Francona said before the Indians and Pirates played. “That’s the best way I can put it. He’s getting himself in a launch position, or a ready position really well. So, he’s able to use the tools that are given to him, rather than them being inhibitors.

“We’ve been hoping. We’ve said all along we love what’s in there. He can impact the game just about anywhere. We were concerned about his amount of at-bats. He hasn’t played really a lot in two years. That still worries us some. But I don’t know how else to fix that this year. We’re going off what we’re going off of.”

Zimmer laced a single down the right field line in the bottom of the fourth to drive in Naquin and push the Indians ahead of the Pirates, 3-2.

GENE J. PUSKAR — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Indians’ Tyler Naquin, left, squeezes past manager Terry Francona during batting practice before an exhibition game against the Pirates July 18 in Pittsburgh.

TONY DEJAK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Bradley Zimmer hits a double in the third inning during an exhibition game against the Pirates on July 20at Progressive Field.