Gabriel Arias Continues To Impress For The Guardians In Spring Training
Entering Spring Training, the question on everyone's mind was, "Will Gabriel Arias do enough to make the Big League roster?" But now as we're past the halfway mark and Opening Day is in less than two weeks the question has shifted to, "How much playing time will Arias get for the Cleveland Guardians?"
The infielder has received some of the most playing time of any Guardian in Spring Training. He's had 34 plate appearances over a 13-game stretch and slashing .324/.378/.412 over that period. Arias has also come around to score nine runs.
The one problem someone could find in Arias's game is that he only has one RBI and that came on a home run. However, that can also be the unlucky fortune of not batting with runners in scoring position.
Arias has definitely proven he deserves to start the season on the Big League roster. But the roadblocks keeping him from playing time are still present and aren't going anywhere and are still present.
One of the reasons that Arias is getting so much playing time is because Andres Gimenez is playing in WBC. That obviously won't be the case once the regular season starts.
The most likely scenario is that Arias is on the roster as a super-utility type player for the Guardians. He can play any spot in the infield as is working on becoming more confident in the outfield.
Arias has demonstrated one of the most important factors for a prospect looking to make an impact in the Majors, that's consistency.
When Terry Francona wants to or needs to play Gabriel Arias every day or through a long stretch due to injury he knows that he can count on the infielder.
The lack of consistency was what hindered Arias in the regular season last season in his limited number of plate appearances. However, he was returning positive results when playing consecutive games in the playoffs.
The time will eventually come when Arias gets a larger role for the Guardians, and he'll be ready when that happens.
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