Guardians Players To Watch As Spring Training Starts
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Full squad practices are finally underway and there are a few players that fans should keep an eye on as practices continue and games start.
Josh Naylor
The locker room was clearly impacted when Josh Naylor suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Minnesota last season. Now Naylor is looking to come back this season and make an impact on and off the field, and so far, it is certainly looking like he will. Naylor has been absolutely crushing balls in BP since arriving in Arizona and looks to be back to his healthy self.
Naylor said that he can "do everything the same way just more efficiently and more controlled," which is a great sign for Guardians fans. Even though it is only BP, these sessions have certainly been turning heads and Naylor’s bat should be something to keep an eye on as Spring Training games start.
Cal Quantrill
One of the clear breakout players from Cleveland’s squad last year was Cal Quantrill. Cal entered 2021 as a bullpen arm, but after Quantrill entered the rotation on June 15 he posted a 2.79 ERA for the rest of the season.
More importantly, he was developing new pitches and finding his way as a starter throughout the year and was still became one the best pitchers in the Guardians rotation. Fans should have every reason to be excited to see how Quantrill performs in Spring Training with a full off-season of work and focus as a starting pitcher.
Tyler Freeman
The Guardians' top prospect, according to MLB, is an obvious candidate to keep an eye on in Spring Training, but he should still be mentioned. Freeman had a very productive year at the plate in the minors last season hitting .470 SLG with a .372 OPS and .307 AVG for AA Akron.
His plate production is something the Guardians would love to have at the major league level. The one area Freeman could improve on is his power. Freeman only hit two home runs over his 41 games. If this power looks to be improving in camp, Freeman could be more than an impactful player for the Guardians' lineup in the future.
Amed Rosario
Earlier today Francona announced that Rosario would split time between shortstop and outfield throughout the season. This is presumably because of the number of middle infield prospects that are in the Guardians organization. The outfield is a position that Rosario played in the early part of 2021, but he never looked to be comfortable there.
The correlation between plate production and defensive position can also be called into question. Over the 15 games that Rosario started in the outfield, he only had a .231 AVG over 58 plate appearances. On the other side, Rosario hit .281 with a .722 OPS as the starting shortstop. As Spring Training continues it will be interesting to see how Rosario handles the split time and if it will continue to affect his bat.
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