The Guardians Need To Get Tyler Freeman The Playing Time He Deserves
With the hitting inconsistencies that the Cleveland Guardians have had this year, one would think they wouldn't hesitate to play someone who has a batting average of .316 and an OPS of 771.
The player with those stats is Tyler Freeman and he's done nothing but produce in the opportunities he's been given. However, he's received sporadic playing time at best so far this season.
Freeman was most recently recalled from Triple-A on May 6. Since then, he's appeared in just five games which includes a span of multiple games where he sat for days without getting any playing time.
As stated earlier, Freeman is batting over .300 this season. However, even his outs have been promising. When he doesn't get on base he's smoking lineouts to the outfield with an exit velo of 108.0 off the bat and an xBA of .830. Those numbers are from Freeman's first at-bat on Sunday.
He simply makes things happen when he's in the box and never seems outmatched by the opponent.
Take the eighth inning of the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Cleveland found themselves down three and ended up scoring four runs to take a late lead. All of that started with a double down the right-field line by Freeman.
His bat has been too productive to not be in the lineup. One argument as to why Freeman hasn't played is the overabundance of infielders already on the roster. Okay, but if the Guardians can turn Gabriel Arias, a shortstop by trade, into an outfielder and first baseman while still playing him at third and short, then the same can be done to Freeman.
Who knows if Tyler is the answer at shortstop or second base for years to come. Right now let's just focus on this year and it's clear he's been able to produce this season and that should be rewarded.
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