After being part of an Israel team that surprised in the early rounds of this year’s World Baseball Classic, Krieger has adapted well early on to the Double-A level, and he’s begun to show some of the strength and pop that Cleveland expected would arrive when they drafted him in the fourth round out of Clemson in 2015. Krieger is still quite slender and wirey, but his actions are extremely smooth and efficient with an athletic quickness that will make it hard for him to be overmatched at the dish. He creates a bit more leverage from the left side, but the bat speed is comparable from the right side, despite his early struggles versus lefties this year. He will play all of 2017 at age 23, but it is fair to say that he is a year behind due to 2014 shoulder surgery that caused him to miss much of his draft year, and that’s likely impacting him a bit last season.

He has plenty of room to continue to add strength, so the .140 ISO mark he’s posted through 86 Double-A at-bats is no fluke. He makes a lot of contact and has very good feel for the strike zone, as evident by his 16:12 SO:BB rate. He has only one home run thus far in 2017, but the nine doubles show he is squaring balls up – given his bat speed, feel for the zone, and overall athleticism, it isn’t a stretch to think that this kid could grow into the .150-to-.170 ISO range. He has played only second base since being drafted, however he can handle shortstop provided that his surgically repaired right arm isn’t an issue. Ultimately, the bat is what will keep him in the lineup, but the glove is more than adequate, making him a great fit for that popular super-utility role in the not-too-distant future.