Some Struggles Among The Guardians’ Fast Start

There is no question the Cleveland Guardians have been one of the more surprising teams in Major League Baseball, jumping out to a 23-13 record and first place in the so far surprisingly strong AL Central.

The much-maligned division currently has four teams over the .500 mark.

That said, there have been some disappointing starts for a few of the Guardians’ players thus far. It’s still early and we don’t mean to dwell on the negative when the team is playing so well, but here are players we would like to see get going.

Bo Naylor had a strong second half last year, hitting .252 with 10 home runs and an 893 OPS, but has struggled at the plate and defensively so far in 2024. The left-handed hitter has just a 558 OPS and leads the team in strikeouts with 38 in 103 plate appearances.

His whiff rate is at 37% right now, compared to 23% last season and while he is among the team leaders in taking walks, his walk rate has dropped from last season.

Defensively, he already has four passed balls (he had 5 last season) and there have been several others where the pitcher was charged with a wild pitch, and the Guardians are tied for the AL high in that category, and we felt Naylor could have done a better job blocking it.

Remember, the Guardians as an organization value defense first behind the plate.

We aren’t saying Naylor should be in danger of losing his job, but we better contact and better defense should be the goal going forward.

Ramon Laureano was resigned in the off-season because he could can play CF and RF and because of his success against southpaws, a career 777 OPS against lefties. However, let’s not forget he was designated for assignment by the lowly A’s, where he hit .213 with a 645 OPS.

To date, he is 5 for 30 vs. left-handed pitching with 13 strikeouts and no walks in 32 plate appearances. Overall, he is hitting .150 with 27 whiffs, 7 walks, and a single home run. Could Johnathan Rodriguez, hitting .280 with an 867 OPS, be poised to take his at bats?

We are sure the organization doesn’t want to bring up Rodriguez and platoon him, and that might be the thing saving Laureano right now.

We knew one of the three rookie starting pitchers the Guardians had last season would have struggles, and Logan Allen is the one having the most troubles. Gavin Williams is still sidelined and while Tanner Bibee hasn’t been dominant, he does have a 4.46 ERA.

Allen had a solid second start of the season, going 6.2 shutout innings against Seattle, but other than that start, he’s pitched to a 7.71 ERA in 32.2 frames. He has a solid strikeout to walk ratio (33K:14 BB) but has allowing 47 hits, including nine home runs.

And to be fair, Allen didn’t pitch poorly in Houston, where bad defense did him in.

The problem is the lack of alternatives right now until Williams returns. Xzavion Curry gave Cleveland a solid start in his lone appearance for the big club, but currently has a 6.86 ERA at Columbus.

And add in the uncertainty (at least in our mind) every time Carlos Carrasco starts, and it’s clear the Guardians need Allen to get back to the guy who had a 3.81 ERA and gave up a hit an inning a year ago.

The Guardians are rapidly approaching the quarter pole of the season, but they need to see progress from this trio going forward.

Viewing The Guards After 27 Games.

The Cleveland Guardians played their 27th game last night in Atlanta, hitting the 1/6th point of the season with an incredible 19-8 record. The Guards were 13-14 last season at this point, continuing a tradition of break-even early season records under Terry Francona.

We are sure even Steven Vogt himself would not have imagined the start this year’s squad is off to, especially after Shane Bieber had two excellent starts and then injured his elbow and will have to miss the balance of the season.

The biggest difference is the offense, averaging over a run a game better than 2023 (5.19 vs. 4.03). Is that sustainable? Only time will tell, but the Guardians are getting better production out of two of their weakest spots a year ago in catcher and centerfield.

Austin Hedges still can’t hit, but Bo Naylor and David Fry have provided more better production. That combo is tied for the team lead in walks with 10 and belted three home runs.

In center, it wasn’t hard to get better hitting with Myles Straw being one of the worst offensive players in the American League, so having Tyler Freeman being a capable bat so far with 3 homers and a 697 OPS is a help.

In terms of WAR (wins above replacement), Cleveland has five spots (1B, 2B, LF, CF, and DH) among the top three in the AL. Last season for the entire year, they had just two: 2B and LF.

Of course, the four mainstays, Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Andres Gimenez, and Steven Kwan, have remained productive, although Ramirez hasn’t really been hot yet. He is second in the AL in RBIs though.

The Guardians still don’t strike out a lot, 4th least in the league, and they are third from the bottom in drawing walks. But they lead the league in doubles, are tied for second in stolen bases, and are second in the AL in slugging percentage.

We would like to see more walks as the season progresses, and less hit by pitches, another category Cleveland leads the league in.

The primary concern for this team right now is the starting pitching, which outside of Bieber’s two starts has been underwhelming. The great Bill James used to say (probably still does) a pitcher who allowed less hits than innings pitched and struck out twice as many as he walked was a good pitcher.

Based on that criterion, the Guards have one good starter, Ben Lively, and he’s only made two starts due to a late start out of spring training. If the Guardians are going to be serious contenders, they will need a lot more out of the starting rotation.

To date, Cleveland has issued 93 walks on the season, 7th most in the AL. Of that total, 53 (58%) have been issued by Triston McKenzie (17), Carlos Carrasco (13), Tanner Bibee (12), and Logan Allen (11).

Because of that, the starters can’t go deep into games creating a heavy and probably not sustainable toll on the bullpen. McKenzie has only allowed 20 hits in his 22 innings of work, but the walks are just killing him.

Last night, Bibee probably had Cleveland’s best start of the year, going seven shutout frames against a very good Braves’ offense.

Right now, four Guardians relievers (Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis, Scott Barlow, and Nick Sandlin) rank tied for 3rd in appearances. Vogt has done a good job limiting innings, as Clase leads in innings pitched with 14, but eventually you have to think it will be a detriment to success.

The Guardians’ start is a welcome surprise, and really it has been a total team effort. It’s not like someone has had an unbelievable start. And they have only played three games against the 1962 Mets-like Chicago White Sox.

So far, the improvement is there and there is no reason it cannot continue.

Different Things For Guardians So Far

We all knew there would be a change in philosophy for the Cleveland Guardians when Terry Francona decided he would not be back as manager of the team. We also know that the front office is also deeply involved in the day to day running of the team, so there would be a question of how the change would manifest itself.

So far, the change has worked out very well, as the Guards are off to baseball’s best record at 16-6. Yes, we know the schedule hasn’t actually been loaded with the best teams in baseball, but Seattle and Minnesota were regarded as contenders coming into the season, and the A’s are basically a .500 team when not playing Cleveland.

One change we’ve noticed is the organization isn’t selling out for defense at all costs. Over the last two seasons, Cleveland played Myles Straw almost exclusively in centerfield because of his defense. They did this even though Straw was one of the worst offensive players in the sport over 2022 and 2023.

In 2024, Tyler Freeman has moved from shortstop to be the primary CF, and already has three homers and 11 RBIs, compared to Straw’s single long ball and 29 ribbies a year ago.

New manager Steven Vogt has made a concerted effort to use the entire roster. Through 16 games, every Cleveland player has at least 39 plate appearances save for Austin Hedges, who has 26. Hedges has been in seven contests, but every other player has been in at least 13 games.

One thing that has continued has been versatility. David Fry has already caught, and played 1B, 3B, and LF. Gabriel Arias has played six different positions to date (3B, 1B, SS, 2B, RF, and CF). Being able to play several positions helps a player get at bats.

Another thing that seems different is the earning of at bats by players. With Arias swinging a good bat right now, he has been in the lineup at different positions pretty much every day.

Fry is hitting .303 with a homer and seven runs batted in and a 917 OPS, and Vogt is finding ways to get him in the lineup. Remember last season how Freeman seemed to only play on Sundays?

The bullpen usage has been different too. Francona had a bit of a caste system, certain guys pitched when they had the lead, and others pitched when they were behind. Granted, the Guardians haven’t trailed a lot this year, but Vogt seems to use anyone at any time.

He has said the only reliever who has a set “role” is Emmanuel Clase, otherwise, everyone else needs to be ready.

That said, it seems Hunter Gaddis has earned the most trust from the skipper, and he seems to get the ball in the 8th inning of close games.

Vogt does seem to go to the bullpen if the starter is getting near the end of the line. He removed both Logan Allen and Carlos Carrasco with two outs in an inning after they allowed a baserunner.

We understand the thought process, but with the relief corps taking on a huge burden early this year, perhaps give the starter an opportunity to get the last out. However, on Sunday, he did let Tanner Bibee go an extra couple of hitters and he didn’t get the third out and Cleveland had to go to the ‘pen anyway.

Of course, it would help if the starters could go six or seven innings on a regular basis. The walks have plagued the rotation. They’ve issued 51 of the 85 bases on balls given up by the pitching staff to date.

We just wanted to point out some of the changes from last year. It’s not meant as a criticism of Francona, who would admit that every manager likes to do things a certain way.

Right now, Steven Vogt is pushing the right buttons. And the results are in the standings. So far, so good.

Length Of Starters And Walks Troubling Guards’ Pitchers

The Cleveland Guardians are off to a very good start, winning 10 of their first 15 games.

We saw a comment over the weekend saying the Guards are taking advantage of an easy early schedule, but the Mariners and Twins were considered contenders coming into the season, so we don’t know where that is coming from.

After this series in Boston, the Guardians finish up the season series with the A’s, and then have Boston, Atlanta, and Houston coming up, and those series will be an early season measuring stick.

Competing with those teams will probably hinge on the performance of the starting rotation. Normally the strongpoint of this organization, so far, their performance has been not up to par.

Outside of Shane Bieber’s two six scoreless inning outings before he went on the injured list to get elbow surgery, the rotation has been more miss than hit, and only Logan Allen through 15 games, has pitched into the seventh inning.

Even worse, Tanner Bibee got into the sixth in his second start vs. Minnesota, but just for one out. Triston McKenzie went 5.2 IP innings in the home opener. And that’s the extent of starting pitching after the fifth inning three times through the rotation.

It does not take advanced sabermetrics to figure out this is not a sustainable way to win over a 162 game season.

With Bieber out, the front office has to find a replacement and both Xzavion Curry and Ben Lively are getting auditions this week. Whoever pitches better in Boston probably stays in the rotation going forward, although we believe Lively has an edge because he’s a veteran and the team brought him in as a free agent, although Curry made a great case yesterday with five scoreless innings.

The biggest problem has been throwing strikes. Every starter, save for Bieber, has been guilty of nibbling, causing their pitch counts to rise and forcing Steven Vogt to go to the bullpen much earlier than he wants.

Tanner Bibee has walked 8 in 13.2 frames after issuing 45 bases on balls in 142 innings in 2023. Carlos Carrasco has issued 9 walks in 12.2 innings.

But the most concerning number is Triston McKenzie who has walked 12 in 13 innings with just five strikeouts. Some have speculated that command issues stem from arm issues, and with McKenzie missed most of ’23 with injuries, it is definitely something to watch.

The bullpen has done yeoman’s work in keeping the pitching staff to where it has the 5th best ERA in the American League.

We know Vogt trusts Emmanuel Clase, and why not, but it seems like the second arm in the pecking order has fallen to Hunter Gaddis.

As a starter, Gaddis was prone to the gopher ball, allowing 11 dingers in nine starts, totaling 38.2 innings.

In his new role, Gaddis has been dominant so far, appearing in eight games for a total of 7.2 frames, striking out 11 and walking two, with just four hits allowed.

Scott Barlow was expected to be the primary set up man for Clase to begin the season, but he has had some control issues, allowing six free passes in 7.1 innings.

Cleveland pitchers have allowed the fourth most walks in the AL, and we know that Carl Willis has always emphasized the importance of getting ahead in the count. Hopefully, the staff starts doing what the veteran coach teaches, and starts it soon.

Issuing so many walks have the staff on a tightrope, and the walks by the starters are putting too large of a toll on the relievers.

An Early Tough Gut Punch For Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians are off to a very good start this season, but it didn’t make them exempt from getting bad news. Saturday, it was announced that Shane Bieber would have to undergo elbow surgery and miss the rest of the season.

It’s a blow for sure as the right-hander looked like he did in his Cy Young Award season in his first two starts, throwing 12 shutout innings with 20 strikeouts and just one walk.

Immediately, some fans raised the white flag on the season, but the players and Steven Vogt don’t and won’t feel that way. Since Bieber is a starting pitcher, they really only have to replace him once every fifth day.

Not to say we told you so, but the availability of Bieber as well as Triston McKenzie were two reasons we didn’t understand the organization’s decision not to add any pitching over the winter. McKenzie missed most of the 2023 season with an elbow issue, and hopefully he will make 30 starts, but it will be a pleasant surprise.

So, where does the organization go from here. First, many people have said the Guardians need to make a trade, but it’s so early in the season, it would seem to be difficult to find a trade partner.

Gavin Williams is down in Arizona right now building up his arm due to a tweak in his elbow (there’s that joint again), and if all goes well, he could be back by the end of April, and could take Bieber’s spot in the rotation.

Williams, if he can remain healthy, has the look of a stud starting pitcher and did well last season with a 3-5 record and 3.29 ERA and almost a strikeout per inning.

Until Williams is back, it could be Xzavion Curry or Ben Lively, the one free agent pitcher the Guardians did sign in the off-season, getting the ball.

Both pitchers are on rehab assignments after catching the flu/virus bug that traveled around the clubhouse in Arizona but were being stretched out as starters before they became ill.

Curry made nine starts a year ago and went 2.2 innings in his first outing at Columbus, while Lively, a 32-year-old veteran, made 12 starts last season for Cincinnati after spending the 2020-22 seasons in Korea as a starter.

Lively was 4-7 with a 5.38 ERA with the Reds in ’23, striking out 79 and walking 25 in 88.2 innings. He did allow 20 dingers with the Reds, and before you blame the bandbox stadium in the Queen City, the homers were divided equally home and road.

He went three in his first rehab outing.

With Sunday’s rainout and Thursday’s off day, the Guardians can get to next Tuesday’s game at Fenway Park before needing a fifth starter, so either Curry or Lively should be ready to give Steven Vogt at least five innings by then.

The way Bieber looked in his first two starts was so encouraging though. Through nine games, only three starters have completed six innings and Bieber’s starts were two of those.

Vogt is going to need Tanner Bibee and Carlos Carrasco to give him more innings in order to keep the bullpen, which has been excellent so far, fresh.

That duo hasn’t pitched poorly, but through their four combined starts, only Bibee has seen the sixth inning and that was just for one out.

The Guardians will continue to proceed with their “win today’s game” attitude, which is how it is supposed to be.

Losing Bieber for the rest of the year is a blow, but it happened early enough for the organization to adjust.

So Far, So Good For Guardians

The baseball season is way too early to make any legitimate comments about the Cleveland Guardians’ start. First, seven games is just 4.3% of the season schedule.

Second, Steven Vogt’s squad spent the first four games playing the Oakland A’s, who may just be the worst team in the sport this season. That doesn’t mean we aren’t happy they took three out of four in Oakland. As we always ask people who pooh-pooh beating poor opponents, would you rather they lost?

Certainly, the series in Seattle and Minnesota will be more of a challenge for the Guardians, but as we said earlier, it is much too soon to make any blanket statements about the 2024 team.

It is difficult to judge the performance of the hitters against the A’s pitching staff, but that doesn’t mean beating Luis Castillo on Tuesday night in Seattle wasn’t impressive. Two of the things we felt would improve the offense, upgrading at catcher and centerfield have showed a bit.

Myles Straw hit just a single home run a year ago and knocked in just 29 runs for the season. Tyler Freeman, getting the bulk of the playing time out there so far, has already matched the dinger total of Straw, and he’s knocked in four runs already.

And Bo Naylor had the big blow against Castillo, a two-run shot, and he’s already drawn three walks in the four games he has played.

One thing that has stuck out was the performance of the starting rotation the first time through. Shane Bieber has been phenomenal, looking every bit like the two-time all-star he is after two appearances, but the rest of the starters have struggled in one area.

None of the other starters has been terrible, but they have had a problem giving Vogt length. It’s not a big deal early in the season, but if it continues, the bullpen will have to carry a heavy burden.

Logan Allen and Carlos Carrasco fought through five innings, Tanner Bibee went just four, and Triston McKenzie lasted just 3.1. The latter two really struggled finding the strike zone consistently, so let’s see how they pitch in their next outings vs. Minnesota this weekend.

It was encouraging to see Allen go 6-2/3 innings yesterday.

As an organization, the Guardians are centered around the starting rotation, and if they can’t take the load off the bullpen, that could be an issue.

On the other hand, the relief corps has been ravaged by injuries and illness, yet they performed admirably this far. Rookie Cade Smith was particularly impressive, fanning nine in 4.1 innings, and Hunter Gaddis might prove to be a weapon out of the ‘pen, with three scoreless outings.

We are sure it would ease Vogt’s mind if he could get six innings out of the rest of the rotation the next time through.

Back to the offense, the key is watching how the hitter perform against good pitching, which the Mariners and Twins have. Putting up competitive at bats is a good thing and something to watch against Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan.

The offense is the part of the team that was the biggest question mark coming into the season. We will continue to monitor if there is progress in scoring runs.

Guardians’ Season Preview In Our “Perspective”

To say the Cleveland Guardians had a very quiet off-season would be an understatement. The biggest news around the franchise was the hiring of a new manager. For the first time since the end of the 2012 season, someone besides Terry Francona is running the club.

In terms of personnel, the front office didn’t exactly build up last year’s roster for new skipper Steven Vogt. The biggest trades brought in Scott Barlow to bolster the bullpen, and they took a shot on a heretofore failed Yankee prospect in Estevan Florial.

But as the regular season opens tonight in Oakland, the obvious question is will the Guardians resemble the young upstarts that won the American League Central Division in 2022, or the squad that was a disappointment in ’23 with a 76-86 record?

How They Can Win. This probably starts with good health for the pitching staff. The Guards lost Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie for good chunks of the season a year ago, and if they stay healthy, the rotation should be in good shape.

We say that even though there are three sophomores in the rotation. Tanner Bibee was second in the AL Rookie Of The Year voting last year, and Gavin Williams looks like an ace in waiting. Logan Allen is a solid fifth starter.

The bullpen added Barlow, who has closed in the past with Kansas City, to go with Emmanuel Clase, which should lessen the burden on the latter.

The offense is improved with upgrades at catcher in Bo Naylor, and they should get better production out of centerfield (Myles Straw was one of the game’s worst hitters a year ago) and the RF/DH spot which were black holes last season.

And Jose Ramirez approaches the type of season he had in 2021 (36 HR, 103 RBI, 893 OPS) and Steven Kwan and Andres Gimenez produce closer to their 2022 campaigns.

And most importantly, Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter get called up around the All-Star break and give the hitting yet another boost.

Why They Won’t. The offense isn’t any better than the 12th in runs scored last season and the front office is still searching for answers.

Ramon Laureano shows why the A’s released him last season, and when Manzardo and DeLauter make their much-anticipated debuts, they struggle to find consistency.

And the search for the next everyday shortstop continues as neither Brayan Rocchio nor Gabriel Arias seize the job.

The young starters of a year ago take a step backwards and the rotation is in flux. The bullpen, save for Clase, proves ineffectively and Nick Sandlin and Eli Morgan continue to give up gopher balls by the bushel.

This causes the trade of Bieber before the deadline and signals the beginning of a new “rebuild” behind Ramirez, Manzardo, DeLauter, Juan Brito, etc.

What Do We Think? This team appears to be a .500 ballclub. The good news is the division is awful. The Twins suffered losses and the White Sox are in total rebuild move. The Tigers are trying to contend, but also kind of overachieved a year ago, and the Royals’ pitching is still an issue, although they are spending money (sigh, what could have been).

We think the Guardians will finish with between 78-84 wins, which could be enough to get them in the post-season.

And we definitely think by the end of the year, both Manzardo and DeLauter will be wearing Cleveland uniforms.

Moving On From Straw Is A New Direction From Guards?

Probably nothing signals a new era for Cleveland Guardians’ baseball than Myles Straw being put on waivers and outrighted to AAA.

Straw is kind of the poster child for the question of how important is being an elite defender to play on an everyday basis? Straw won the Gold Glove in 2022 and was certainly a tremendous glove in patrolling centerfield during his tenure in Cleveland, but frankly, he was one of the worst hitters in the sport.

For a team that finished 12th in the American League in runs scored a year ago, his bat was no longer a luxury they could afford.

In Ozzie Smith’s second season, he batted .211 with a 522 OPS. As good as Smith was with the glove, if he didn’t provide better offense, we would have been a bench player for a while, and then would have been released.

And he’s probably the greatest defensive shortstop ever.

Smith gradually got better with a bat in his hands. Perhaps Straw will at some point, but if he doesn’t, we would guess he won’t be a regular in the major leagues again.

Not to get bogged down with Straw, but the curious thing about him is he never changed his offensive approach in games. He never learned or improved his bunting skills. He also stopped running when he did reach base, which was even more curious.

As for the rest of the roster, it does look like Straw’s replacement in center might be converted shortstop Tyler Freeman. We have long wondered what Freeman would do if he was getting regular playing time, and we guess we will know find out.

The pedigree is there as far as his minor league numbers go. He slashed 393/387/780 in AAA and overall, 382/430/812. Now, it’s up to him to prove those numbers can translate to the big leagues.

We were also happy to learn Brayan Rocchio will be the primary shortstop over Gabriel Arias, because we think the former is the better offensive player.

We aren’t saying the organization should ignore the defense, especially when you’ve built everything around your pitching staff, but to us, if it comes down to playing a pretty good fielder who can hit vs. a great glove who cannot, we go with the first option every time.

Estevan Florial made the team despite a lackluster camp, and it will be interesting to see how Steven Vogt uses him. Our thought with him is if he doesn’t do anything with the bat, there is the logical spot for Kyle Manzardo to come in and replace him on the roster.

The pitching staff is very much in flux because of injuries and the virus which affected the team all spring. Gavin Williams and Sam Hentges will start on the injured list, and we already know Trevor Stephan is out for the season.

So, Carlos Carrasco will open as the fifth starter, and Tyler Beede, a non-roster invitee who pitched in Japan last season also will be on hand. Hunter Gaddis is now a reliever, and was very good in Arizona, fanning 17 in 11-2/3 innings.

Rookie Cade Smith could also make the big club after striking out 11 in eight frames in spring training, coming off whiffing 95 in 62-2/3 innings in the minors last season, albeit with a 4.45 ERA.

How will this group of Guardians perform once the games count for real in Oakland on Thursday night? We will talk about that in a couple of days.

A Week Away From Real Baseball For Guardians

It’s just a week away, baseball fans. We know the Dodgers and Padres are playing a series in Korea, but the real season gets underway a week from today, and the Guardians have a long trip to start the campaign as the construction at Progressive Field continues.

Steven Vogt’s squad are scheduled to play 10 games before arriving in Cleveland for the home opener. And some of the questions about the roster are beginning to take shape.

We have no inside sources on this and no hidden agendas, so this is just our opinion on how things are shaking out.

At shortstop, it appears Brayan Rocchio is taking the lead after struggling mightily at the beginning of exhibition play. The switch-hitter is starting to swing the bat well, up to .270 and he isn’t doing it against minor league pitchers.

His chief competition, Gabriel Arias, had the same problem that plagued him a year ago in the big leagues, lack of contact. Arias has hit just .167 (5 for 30) and has fanned nine times.

When Arias hits the ball, he hits it hard, but he just doesn’t do it often enough to be in the lineup every day.

The other hotly contested spot is centerfield, with incumbent Myles Straw, one of the game’s worst hitters last year vying for time with Estevan Florial, with Tyler Freeman trying to nose his way in the mix.

How the playing time gets divided is probably dependent on how much the organization believes Straw’s bat is fixed. Frankly, he hasn’t faced the quality of pitching the other two have, but he has gone 9 for 25 with three walks.

Florial’s spring training has been shocking and not in a good way. We knew he had a lot of swing and miss in his game, but in exhibition play, he has gone 6 for 40 with 19 strikeouts. Oh, and just one extra base hit and two walks. If we were the skipper, it would be very difficult to write his name in the lineup.

He’s out of options, so it is very likely he will make the trip to Oakland.

Freeman has faced the best pitching of the three and has hit .286 with a 783 OPS. We have been wanting to see him get every day playing time in the majors for a while now, because of his minor league pedigree.

He will be in the mix for sure, it will be interesting to see how Vogt will handle his at bats.

And lastly, will Deyvison De Los Santos make the team? He’s a rule 5 draft pick, so if he doesn’t make the big club, he has to be offered back to Arizona or work out a deal to keep him.

He’s a right-handed bat, which is in his favor. He’s picked it up a bit recently, and overall has gone 10 for 42 with a double and a home run. On the negative side, he has also whiffed nine times without drawing a walk.

Perhaps the Guardians already made this decision when they sent Kyle Manzardo back to the minors, despite him going 8 for 21 with four extra base hits. If they would’ve kept him, he would have been in the mix at 1B and DH, where De Los Santos can play the outfield and third base as well.

Not keeping Manzardo sends the wrong message to us. The organization traded a major league starting pitcher to get him and he played in AAA last year. He should have made the team unless his spring training was like say, Florial’s.

We all know why Manzardo isn’t with the big club, they are manipulating his service time instead of focusing on winning a division that is very winnable.

It’s another reason it is tough to be a Guardians’ fan sometimes.

Who Will Make Up Guardians’ Roster?

It is kind of sneaking up on people, but the Cleveland Guardians will open the season a little over two weeks from now, two weeks from Thursday in fact, when they take on the Oakland A’s in Steven Vogt’s debut as manager.

Vogt and the front office haven’t made many roster decisions as of yet, so there are still a lot of players in camp, and they can only take 26 to Oakland. Here is how we see things shaping up to date, barring injury.

The catchers are set, Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges will be the backstops, and the starting rotation will be Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Logan Allen, unless Williams’ elbow issue is lingering.

Three quarters of the infield are set with 1B Josh Naylor, 2B Andres Gimenez, and 3B Jose Ramirez, the shortstop job is still seemingly up for grabs as neither Gabriel Arias (3 for 16) nor Brayan Rocchio (2 for 20) have taken control.

And in the outfield, it looks like Steven Kwan and Ramon Laureano has spots etched in stone, and because of his contract, Myles Straw is a lock too. That would be 13 players.

Five spots in the bullpen are settled: Emmanuel Clase, Scott Barlow, Sam Hentges, Eli Morgan, and Nick Sandlin.

Two of the last three spot in relief should go to free agent Ben Lively and old friend Carlos Carrasco. That would leave the last spot going to either Xzavion Curry, Hunter Gaddis, or Tim Herrin.

With the 8 relievers, that means 21 spots are filled and five would be open. We assume Tyler Freeman has one of those spots locked up, and the decision should be whether he is starting in centerfield, shortstop, or second base (with Gimenez moving to SS).

Will Brennan probably has the team made as well, which would leave three spots open. One of those would be the utility infield spot, which likely will not go to phenom Angel Martinez. More than likely it would be either Arias or Rocchio, probably the former, with an outside shot for Jose Tena.

Another question would be the players who are out of options, of which Cleveland has four. Two of them, Hentges and Lively should have spots locked up.

Deyvison De Los Santos is another because he was selected in the rule 5 draft and has to make the team or be offered back to Arizona. If he stays, he’s pretty much the 26th man.

The other is Estevan Florial, who has underwhelmed to date, going 2 for 22 with 10 strikeouts. He really has done nothing to make the team, but we wonder if he gets a spot because he’s out of options.

If the organization keeps both De Los Santos and Florial, that will make the roster complete. And it would also keep David Fry and Kyle Manzardo off the Opening Day roster.

We would like to see both in Oakland on March 28th. Fry is a right-handed bat with some pop and can also serve as a third catcher. That would enable Vogt to pinch-hit for Hedges on days he starts.

We’ve been pretty clear that we think Manzardo should come north with the big club, but we would like to see more at bats vs. big league arms. So far in camp, he has gone 6 for 13 with two doubles and two walks and four Ks.

On the flip side, we only want him up if the Guards plan to give him plenty of plate appearances. If he’s going to be in there once or twice a week, then send him to AAA.

Of course, there could still be some minor trades or worse, injuries that affect this projection. However, the beginning of the season is getting closer.