Guardians 2B Candidate Off To Strong Start During Spring Training

The Cleveland Guardians' second base battle would always be one of the most interesting parts of spring training. This remains true even with the team two weeks into Cactus League games.

While there's still plenty of time before Opening Day, one player is making a strong impression with his promising start to the spring.

Tyler Freeman was used as an outfielder and a utility player during the 2025 season, but Stephen Vogt mentioned last Thursday that he has not been ruled out as a candidate to be the team's second baseman.

"Tyler's played a lot of second base in his career, and we know he can do it very well," said Cleveland's skipper.

Mar 1, 2025; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians outfielder Tyler Freeman (2) hits a double against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Freeman came up through the organization as a middle infielder and has made two starts there this spring.

It's still early, and it wouldn't be fair to other candidates to deem Freeman that frontrunner for the second base job, but what he's doing on offense also can't be ignored.

In just seven at-bats, Freeman is currently hitting .571/.700/1.000 in four games.

Some of the positives we can take away from these numbers are that Freeman is hitting the ball extremely hard, has already recorded three doubles, and has only struck out once.

Freeman has always had fantastic plate awareness and made solid contact, but the quality of his contact has hurt his overall production.

So far, it appears he's putting a higher emphasis on quality of contact, and it's paying off.

Gabriel Arias and Juan Brito can't be counted out just yet, but if Cleveland is looking to fill second base by riding the hot bat, Freeman is certainly making a strong first impression to start the season on the right side of the middle infield.

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