How Gabriel Arias Has Begun To Fix His Play at the Plate, up to Two Home Runs in 2026

If someone had told you that Gabriel Arias would have home runs in back-to-back games before the year began, you may have called them crazy.

But out of the blue, after struggling from the plate for the first six games of the 2026 MLB regular season, Arias has done a complete 180.

Since the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arias is currently batting .333 with a high slugging percentage of .833. His OPS is up to 1.218 during this time period as well, with two home runs and four RBI. With many of Cleveland's regular bats still failing to find form early in the year, Arias' contributions have been the difference maker.

"Yeah, we want to make the lineup as long as possible," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said following game two of Sunday's doubleheader. "When we’re getting contributions from Gabby and Hedgie… It’s the bottom of the lineup today. It just makes it longer. And, you know, when you’re relying on two to three people to carry it every day, it’s not sustainable, as we’ve seen. And so when you’re getting, you know, more and more people to chip in, it just takes the pressure off.

"And I’m really happy for Gabby. It’s been a couple really good days for him. Hopefully we can continue to string some together."

On Sunday, April 5, he knocked two singles for two RBI, helping the Guardians pull off a series win over the Cubs in game two of the Easter Sunday doubleheader, 6-5.

Arias is now up to a season batting mark of .179 with five hits. He's tied for the fourth most hits of any Guardian batter.

When asked about what led to his turnaround, Arias mentioned his participation in winter ball in Venezuela.

"I think Winter helped me a lot because I'm the type of player who likes to stay playing, right? Keep playing," Arias said through his translator, Agustin Rivero. "If I don't play, I feel like I'm a little off. I'm wasting my time. So the more I was able to play there, the more I was able to work on controlling the zone... I feel I'm back to what I was working to do, that is, controlling more [of] the strike zone."

That type of baseball isn't exactly MLB-level play, but it still does allow a player like Arias to keep the bat warm and stay on his toes. Across 41 games played in the Venezuelan Winter League, the 26-year-old slashed .282/.367/.513 for an OPS of .879. He finished with 17 extra-base hits and nearly 30 RBI.

Something else that grew in his game was his speed on the base paths, taking seven bases while getting caught just twice.

Across his entire major league career, he's only stolen 17 total bases, making it a nice addition to his game if that type of efficiency on the base paths can translate to big league play at some point in 2026.

For a player who was written off at the beginning of the regular season, and even a bit in spring training, he's beginning to show that he might just have what it takes to keep his major league roster spot intact for a couple of more months.