Omar Vizquel has high praise for Indians’ Francisco Lindor

Before the Cleveland Indians finished off a three-game sweep over the Detroit Tigers in Motown Sunday afternoon, former Indians’ great Omar Vizquel had some very high praise for current Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor.

From MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.

“He has some great abilities. No doubt. It’s been fun to see all of the new guys coming and making all the great plays at shortstop. Lindor really sticks out from the group, because of the abilities he has with diving on both sides and trying to be creative out there with some of the balls that he gets.”

The future Hall of Famer and current Tigers’ first-base coach was able to see some of Lindor’s ability — both at the plate and in the field — during the weekend series. In his second season with the major league club, the 22-year-old showed just how good he could be for years to come.

Just yards away in the first-base coach’s box, Vizquel was able to get an up-close and in-person look at what Lindor can do with his glove, with a pair of jaw-dropping plays.

https://vine.co/v/iU6rYTLguuK

https://vine.co/v/iU665idVE0t

Just how hard was that ball hit off Miguel Cabrera’s bat on Saturday that dropped Lindor to the ground, you ask? It was fast — really fast.

Miguel Cabrera's grounder registered at 107 mph according to Statcast. Francisco Lindor made play from backside.

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) April 23, 2016

Those two plays that Lindor made over the weekend were Vizquel-esque. The young kid has the chance to be the Indians best shortstop since Vizquel, and that says a lot, and his glove has now caught the eye of the former Indian.

Following Lindor’s impressive play that put him on the seat of his pants before he was able to get up and throw out Cabrera, the shortstop had a huge smile on his face and was laughing with Cabrera while the slugger was walking back to the dugout. That smile and laugh was one that Vizquel noticed, and praised.

“I was one of those guys who liked to laugh around the field whenever I made a play. You see that on him, too. That means he’s just enjoying the game.”

Lindor was very appreciative of Vizquel’s comments. When No. 13 was traded to the Indians on December 20, 1993, Lindor was just 36 days old, but he knows how great of a shortstop the Gold Glover was.

“It means a lot. He obviously played for a long time and a lot of people kind of try to be like him. They try to get a few things from him — even me. I’ve tried to get a few things from him and make it my own. For a guy to talk like that, it’s huge. It’s an honor and I thank him.”

In fact, since No. 12 was so young when Vizquel played for the Indians, he admitted that when he was a Minor Leaguer, he watched video clips of Vizquel’s greatness, trying to portray his antics.

“I watched a lot of videos on YouTube. We watched videos on preparation and before a pitch and stuff like that. It was good.”

I think I can speak for all Indians in saying that if Lindor becomes the second-coming of Vizquel at shortstop, the Indians will have a star that Cleveland will love for years to come.