With a new snippet of information, it\u2019s time to examine what we might be able to infer about the Guardians\u2019 outfield plans for 2026.<\/p>\n
This weekend, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland dot com shared a quote from Guardians\u2019 manager Stephen Vogt in which Vogt clarifies that David Fry is working exclusively as a catcher right now and will begin working at first base later in the spring, but that it wouldn\u2019t be fair to expect him to play third base or right field, yet. Perhaps Fry works on getting back into playing shape for those positions during the season, but Vogt gave no indication whether or not this was the plan.<\/p>\n
I had been assuming that part of David Fry\u2019s presence on the roster was a return of his ability to play right field, so this is causing me to re-evaluate some roster projections. I don\u2019t think there is really any chance the team will use one of Fry\u2019s remaining options to send him to Columbus – he\u2019s making the roster one way or another, if healthy. So, what does this mean for the remaining open spots?<\/p>\n
The Established Spots:
Catcher: Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges.
First Base: Kyle Manzardo
Second Base: Gabriel Arias or Brayan Rocchio
Shortstop: Brayan Rocchio or Gabriel Arias
Third Base: Jose Ramirez
Left Field: Steven Kwan
Designated Hitter, First Base and Third Catcher: David Fry<\/p>\n
First, please stop imagining the team will play Kwan in center. They will not. We don\u2019t have to understand it. We just have to accept it. Second, join me in accepting that barring an act of God, we will see Rocchio and Arias up the middle to start the season. I\u2019m optimistic that either Juan Brito or Travis Bazzana or both will see time at second base this season, but, barring injury, it won\u2019t be until May at the earliest. Accept it, get mad, grieve it, move on.<\/p>\n
There are five roster spots remaining, then. One spot WILL go to a utility infielder who can play shortstop. That player is Daniel Schneemann, as Angel Martinez and Juan Brito are NOT shortstops. A breakout camp for Carter Kieboom could make him an option here, but that\u2019s unlikely for a variety of reasons. Expect it to be Schneemann, who does bring some value here in that he can also play competently in any outfield position.<\/p>\n
So, that means there are four roster spots remaining, including two empty spots at center field and right field currently. Let\u2019s look at our primary candidates:<\/p>\n
Left-Handers: Nolan Jones, Chase DeLauter, George Valera, CJ Kayfus, Petey Halpin, and Khalil Watson.
Right-Handers: Stuart Fairchild and Johnathan Rodriguez.
Switch-Hitters: Angel Martinez and potentially Juan Brito.<\/p>\n
I think all indications are that Chase DeLauter will break camp with the team, if healthy. The big question is whether it will be as a center fielder or a right fielder. If the team is truly fine with the idea of playing DeLauter in center field, than I (perhaps delusionally) expect them to DFA Nolan Jones and pass him through waivers to get an extra \u201coption\u201d on him and stash him in Columbus in case of injury. Far more likely, however, is that the team plans for Jones as the primary centerfielder and DeLauter as the primary right fielder. So, let\u2019s pencil that in: Jones for center field, DeLauter for right.<\/p>\n
The team will have a right-handed bat on the bench who can play center field. It will either be Fairchild or Martinez. Given that Martinez has remaining options, I expect that Fairchild gets first crack at sticking on the roster since he is the only outfielder the team has added (thus far) this offseason. Now, the team DID add Jones late in spring training last season; maybe they have a plan to do something similar to add a right-handed hitting outfielder this spring training. I am open to the idea, Antonetti. Make it happen, cap\u2019n. But, for now, Fairchild secures that fourth outfielder spot.<\/p>\n
We are now at the most interesting battle of the spring, in my opinion. Assuming that Halpin and Watson continue to get seasoning in Columbus given their ages and option situations, we will have Kayfus, Rodriguez, Martinez and Brito competing for that 13th roster spot. I am curious how much we will see Brito in right field in Spring Training, given Fry cannot play there. Brito has hit left-handed pitching extremely well in the minors and I found him to look passable in right field (he has a decent arm). Currently, I think that choice would be the best option for a roster above that lacks punch against left-handed pitching. Brito also looks competent at first base, and can clearly play second base in a pinch. If Brito isn\u2019t ready for that fielding work yet, I wonder if Martinez will get first crack given his lefty mashing so far.<\/p>\n
It is undeniably a struggle to leave either Kayfus or Valera off this roster, let alone both. To be clear, if the team is willing to play DeLauter in center, then both Kayfus AND Valera can make the roster. Kayfus looked passable in right field, and Valera and he could get time there and at DH (with Kayfus also perhaps being a late-inning-replacement-with-a-lead at first base). However, there\u2019s no doubt that this thirteenth roster spot SHOULD be a right-handed bat if possible, given the construction of the rest of the roster.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a possibility that the team deludes themselves into thinking Johnathan Rodriguez can play right field. I refuse to accept that will happen for the sake of my mental health. Rodriguez, then, is just David Fry insurance. He can bat at DH if Fry is hurt or ineffective. Until then, he hangs out with the Clippers.<\/p>\n
So, my current projection for Guardians hitters on Opening Day (given health):
C: Naylor and Hedges
1B: Manzardo and Fry
MIF: Rocchio, Arias, and Schneemann
3B: Jose
LF: Kwan
CF: Jones and Fairchild
RF: DeLauter and Martinez (or HOPEFULLY Brito)<\/p>\n
But, what I WANT the Guardians to do is this:
C: Naylor and Hedges
1B: Manzardo and Fry
2B: Bazzana (rip the band-aid off and let him do his thing!)
SS: Rocchio
UIF: Schneemann
3B: Jose
LF: Kwan
CF: DeLauter and Fairchild
RF: Valera and Brito<\/p>\n
Let us know your predictions and ponderings in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a new snippet of information, it\u2019s time to examine what we might be able to infer about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2380],"tags":[5,135,51,38929,2565,538,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-575923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-guardians","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-guardians","11":"tag-cleveland-guardians-analysis-editorials","12":"tag-clevelandguardians","13":"tag-guardians","14":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116081618146857948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}