Guardians Shortstop Silently Showing Progress At The Plate

The shortstop position was one of the Cleveland Guardians’ most talked-about storylines heading into the season. Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias were “battling” to be the team’s everyday option during spring training with the winner of that eventually going to Rocchio.

Even though he’s seen the majority of reps at shortstop, Rocchio’s overall numbers at the plate haven’t been great this season. However, his recent stretch at the plate has been encouraging and there are signs Rocchio is silently putting it all together.

Over the 23-year-old’s last 38 plate appearances dating back to the series finale in Atlanta, Rocchio is hitting .258/.395/.290 with a wRC+ of 113. This also includes his first-ever career walk which could be a confidence booster for the young infielder.

Stephen Vogt loves to talk about the quality of at-bats his players are putting together, something that doesn’t always show up in the advanced stats.

Rocchio has certainly shown through this stretch of games he’s putting together quality appearances at the plate. The biggest sign of this is that he’s started to walk at a higher rate than striking out. Even if this doesn’t translate to hits, it’s a least showing that Rocchio is seeing the ball better.

May 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) hits a single during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports | Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

“We’re asking a lot of Rocchio being an everyday shortstop in the big leagues at his age,” said Vogt on Wednesday.

“There are stretches where his at-bats look really, really good, and then he goes through stretches where he’s trying to do too much. As he’s getting his legs under him in the big leagues, he’s really starting to settle in at times and understand what his job is and that’s to go out and have a great at-bat.”

Rocchio now finds himself in a new situation given a major injury to the team. Steven Kwan’s hamstring injury has forced the Guardians to try different options at leadoff and Rocchio is the latest one to get this opportunity.

It’ll be interesting to see how Rocchio responds in this role and if he can keep the quality at-bats going.