News and Notes: Guardians Shortstop Competition Opens Up
News and Notes for Thursday, February 22nd, 2024
Paul Hoynes of Cleveland dot com wrote about the Guardians shortstop competition. It sounds like it'll be either Gabriel Arias or Brayan Rocchio there to start the season.
Hoynes also had a fun anecdote about Vogt facing Clase in the past and notes about how the Guardians are trying to both enhance their baserunning and control other team's baserunning in 2024.
Mandy Bell wrote about how José Ramírez is expected to see time in both the 2nd and 3rd spot in the Guardians lineup. I like the idea of players being flexible in their lineup spot, a possible way to extract some additional advantages that teams often eschew for player comfort's sake. Vogt said that player comfort will still be important but it sounds like José is ready to be flexible.
Jason Lloyd wrote some Spring Training notes for the Athletic, including that Kyle Manzardo is headed for Columbus and that Deyvison De Los Santos, being mentored by José Ramirez, is getting some time in the outfield. It sounds like Estevan Florial is expected to be the primary starter in centerfield, thank God. He also had some interesting thoughts on how the Guardians continue to try to defy conventional wisdom by prioritizing contact and bat control.
FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen offered insight as to why Kyle Manzardo and Juan Brito didn't make his top 100.
I don't get worked up about prospect lists but here is Longenhagen on why Manzardo and Brito didn't make their top 100: https://t.co/9I334tISyL pic.twitter.com/O3angDeHCr
— Quincy Wheeler (@QuincyWheeler1) February 21, 2024
He doubts Manzardo's pop and Brito's defense. For what it's worth, Manzardo had a .201 ISO last year while dealing with a shoulder issue and a family health crisis. For the last six weeks of the season, his ISO was back to .304 and he also hit for power in the Arizona Fall League. So I think Longenhagen is missing the boat there. And, for whatever my eyes are worth, I think Brito will be adequate as a second baseman. But we will see!
Steven Kwan won the Guardians' chess tournament which was a lot of fun to watch. Mandy Bell of MLB.com wrote up the event.
And the winner of this afternoon's @CleGuardians SlugChamps chess tournament is...@skwanzaa, going 8-1-1 in his 10 matches and raising money for @CLEMetroSchools chess clubs! ♟️ #ForTheLand | #GuardsSpring | @CLEInspires | @chesscom pic.twitter.com/my33aRXse8
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) February 21, 2024
The Akron Beacon Journal has been doing a fun series of "Five Questions" with the Guardians which you should check out:
Austin Hedges answers five rapid fire questions on his favorite pregame meal, favorite road city to visit and more. https://t.co/bLF1SxOTUX
— Akron Beacon Journal (@beaconjournal) February 20, 2024