Where Does Guardians Shortstop Battle Stand?
The position that everyone's eyes are on during spring training is shortstop. The Cleveland Guardians have plenty of candidates to start their Opening Day.
The front runners are likely still Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias given their skill set, experience, and overall service-time status in the organization. However, neither one of them has completely separated themselves.
Arias has appeared in five games and has 11 at-bats. In those appearances, he's hitting .273/.333/.364 but is struggling with his strikeout rate. Power is something that is supposed to be a strength for Arias, but he's yet to hit a home run and his slugging percentage still leaves something to be desired.
Rocchio on the other hand has started camp in an offense rut. He currently has just one hit and one walk in 12 at-bats (.083/.154/.083). The Guardians' offense still has many question marks so a slash line such as this one won't do Rocchio any favors in cracking the Opening Day roster.
However, manager Stephen Vogt did mention earlier in camp though that he was impressed with how Rocchio played in the Venezuelan Winter League and led his team to a championship.
In terms of defense, each player has been as advertised. They're both special defenders and while yes they've shown some rust early in camp, there's no reason to think either of them will be a liability at the position.
There's no way we can talk about the shortstop battle without talking about the emerging candidates. Angel Martínez is suddenly looking like an everyday major league player, José Tena has an OPS of .767 through the first seven games of spring training, and Tyler Freeman's offseason workload is paying off (although he looks more like the team's starting center fielder right now).
Mar 4, 2023; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Gabriel Arias (8) makes the off-balance throw against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning at Hohokam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
© Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Arias and Rocchio may be the frontrunners, but we can't forget about the rest who are on par in terms of talent and production.
If Opening Day were tomorrow and you were to ask me, Arias seems like the safe choice to be the starting shortstop. He has the most big league experience, has looked solid on offense, and his power could still fill a glaring void in Cleveland's roster.
However, there are still three more weeks until Cleveland's first regular season game in Oakland. Narratives can quickly change.
