Bradley Zimmer wants to throw down with The Freeze

Bradley Zimmer may be fast, but can he beat a superhuman mascot? He wants to try, anyway.

The Tribe Twitter account casually mentioned that Zimmer could “beat the freeze w/o a head start” after Zimmer flew from first to home on a Roberto Perez double Wednesday. Less than a half hour later, The Freeze’s own Twitter account responded, and the following ensued:

First of all, top-notch photoshop work by The Freeze. Maybe a B from our boy Zimmer, since his work doesn’t actually take place on a track, but definitely not bad.

[Side note: I wonder if there is one person within the organization who does all these photoshops, like Ryan Merritt “shaking in his cowboy boots” that Corey Kluber posted during last year’s ALCS, or the multiple ‘shops depicting Jose Ramirez being amazing. I could see Zimmer doing it himself, but Kluber doesn’t strike me as much of a photo editor.]

Anyway, Zimmer, who already leads the Indians with seven stolen bases on the season, thinks he can beat a mysterious track running marvel. I believe in him.

It wouldn’t be the first time Freeze lost, either. He went down handily to a fan a couple weeks ago, which forced the Braves to pull out a — and I mean this in the nicest way possible — a man that was obviously beatable to ensure that The Freeze wouldn’t lose twice in a row. And then there was this absolutely demolition:

It wouldn’t be easy, especially without The Freeze’s customary head start, but it’s definitely not impossible.

The Freeze took off in popularity earlier this month when he chased a cocky fan down who fell at the last second. The display was the perfect recipe for a viral video. A strange man in a bright blue costume letting another man get huge head start. The competing fan waiving his hands in the air at the end, thinking he’d won. Then The Freeze storming by at the last second as the fan got disoriented and fell over. It took off, and suddenly The Freeze was more watchable than the Braves.

Shortly after, there were dozens of pieces written about The Freeze, who was revealed to be a 26-year-old former high school track star whose real name is Nigel Talton. According to Sports Illustrated, Talton’s 60-meter dash topped out at 6.77 seconds. Bradley Zimmer is no track star, but MLB Pipeline did give him a 55 run grade, so that take that for what you will.

Unfortunately, the Indians don’t play the Braves this season, so a race doesn’t seem likely. Even if they did, I am not sure a team would allow their future star center field to compete in a dead sprint halfway around a baseball diamond with nothing on the line. But it sure would make the All-Star game more exciting, just saying.