Cleveland Guardians’ Chase DeLauter celebrates his three-run home run against the Chicago White Sox … More
People often ask if there is help on the way for the dismal Cleveland Guardians offense?
Talk shows, media articles, and on-line chats are loaded with baseball fans in general, and Guardians fans in particular, wondering if help is on the way to save the Guardians season?
This old scout has thought long and hard about that issue.
One has to look at the root of many of the hitting issues.
To begin, the Cleveland Guardians entire organization is heavily skewed to left-handed hitters.
In fact, only two position players in the MLB.Com Top 30 Cleveland Guardians prospects are pure right-handed hitters. Only two of 17 ranked position players hit from the right batter’s box.
Prospect No. 24, Alfonsin Rosario is a right-handed hitter. So is Luis Merejo, who is the No. 27 ranked player by MLB.com Pipeline.
Three of the 17 are switch-hitters, leaving 12 top position prospects hitting left-handed.
To this old scout, the imbalance in roster construction is coming home to roost for the Guardians offense.
On the major league roster, as of the start of play July 9, only designated hitter David Fry, backup catcher Austin Hedges, utility outfielder Will Wilson, and utility outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez hit right-handed.
Note that with the exception of Fry, none of the right-handed hitters have won a full-time job in the Guardians starting lineup.
Jhonknsey Noel has had at-bats at the big league level. He is a right-handed hitter, but he barely played when he was on the 26-man roster.
Noel has taken the roster spot of left-handed hitting Kyle Manzardo when Manzardo left the club to attend to a family medical emergency July 17.
GOODYEAR, ARIZONA – MARCH 12: C.J. Kayfus #2 of the Cleveland Guardians warms up during a spring … More
Top Prospects:
Guardians fans have flooded sports talk shows to lobby for the promotions of top Cleveland hitting prospects, Chase DeLauter, and C.J. Kayfus.
There is a problem with the Guardians promoting both those young, promising players.
Both DeLauter, 23, and Kayfus, 25, hit left-handed.
In order to promote either or both of those prospects, a player or players must be removed from the 26-man roster.
Promoting either of those two players would require the demotion of a player with minor league options remaining.
Sending out right-handed hitting shortstop, Gabriel Arias, who is currently on the injured list, isn’t possible. He is out of options. He would be subject to a claim by any major league club.
The position players with options remaining include;
Left-handed hitting Steven Kwan,
Left-handed hitting Daniel Schneemann,
Left-handed hitting Bo Naylor,
Left handed hitting Kyle Manzardo
Switch-hitter Angel Martinez,
Switch-hitting Brayan Rocchio,
Right-handed hitting David Fry,
Right -handed hitting Will Wilson
Right-handed hitting Johnathan Rodriguez
Kwan is an All Star. He isn’t going anywhere, unless he chooses to leave as a free agent in 2028, or gets traded before then.
Martinez is enjoying a modicum of success, and is a valuable switch-hitter, capable of playing multiple positions.
Rocchio or Wilson may get sent back to Triple-A when Arias returns from injury. But that won’t fix the lack of right-handed bats.
Rodriguez may be a good choice to send out, but his departure would eliminate another right-handed bat from manager Stephen Vogt’s bench.
David Fry would be a logical choice to go to Columbus and try to find his hitting mechanics. A lengthy injury caused Fry to miss time, and he is far from the All Star he was last season.
But removing Fry removes another right-handed bat, and replacing it with yet another left-handed hitter. His occasional home runs may be too compelling to ignore.
Schneemann isn’t a consistent hitter, but he has filled in nicely at several positions.
Naylor isn’t going anywhere. The team believes in him as their primary catcher.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – JUNE 25: Kyle Manzardo #9 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates after hitting a … More
That leaves Kyle Manzardo.
And that’s interesting.
Manzardo, 25, is a left-handed hitting first baseman/designated hitter.
He needs work on his defense at first base.
He is fooled mightily at the plate by savvy pitchers.
While Manzardo has power, he hasn’t refined his hitting mechanics to the point of consistently offering solid plate appearances.
It seems when he looks fastball, he gets spin. When he looks spin, he gets the fastball. And Manzardo can hit fastballs. Especially low fastballs.
Manzardo, like many Guardians hitters, is fooled by changeups.
But if the Guardians want to promote another left-handed hitter in either DeLauter or Kayfus, it might be wise to send Manzardo to Triple-A Columbus for more seasoning.
Frankly, that’s probably folly.
Kayfus is a first baseman.
I
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JULY 01: Carlos Santana #41 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates scoring … More
f the Guardians trade Carlos Santana, 39, they can play Kayfus at first base, and keep Manzardo.
As for promoting left-handed hitting DeLauter?
That’s the one that’s troubling. Who gets sent out for DeLauter?
If they jettison Rodriguez, the bench is without another right-handed bat.
Frankly, Rodrigues isn’t playing much anyway.
For this old scout, the problem is too many left-handed hitters in the entire organization.
