Rookies in Cleveland 2022, Part, Like, 30

 

I definitely think it's a compliment when a team that is doing well in the standings has so many different rookies having 'all-of-baseball' stretches over the course of a season. This is a team that's been desperate to rebuild for so long, and now here they are, rebuilding...in first place. How great is that?

The carousel of rookies for the Guardians began in April, when Steven Kwan's contact abilities shocked the league right off the bat, and early ROY talks had Kwan's name on it [this was when Julio Rodriguez wasn't hitting]. Now, and I want to make this perfectly clear, while Kwan has cooled down a bit, he's still hitting .283 with 52 hits, 17 RBIs and a lineup-low 16 strikeouts. Just because other Guardians like Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez caught up to Kwan doesn't mean that Kwan isn't a story anymore. It's not like the Jeremy Hazelbaker debacle of 2016, which was interesting for a week before nobody ever heard from him again. Steven Kwan is a really cool contact player, he makes great plays in the outfield, and he's earned a place on this still-growing Guardians team.

Also earning his stripes this year is Oscar Gonzalez, who's been having an excellent June, hitting .323 with 32 hits, 13 RBIs and 2 homers in 25 games. More contact energy, more absolute rip-roaring hits, and another mainstay now in the outfield. Right now a lot of people are talking about Gonzalez because of his work in June, and while I don't think he'll be able to top a lot of other Rookie of the Year cases, I think that, like Kwan, he'll be a formative contact piece for this team.

The other piece of this rookie wave is that it's allowing the Guardians to finally admit that prior pieces are no longer working. Steven Kwan comes right out of the gate kicking ass, and it finally allows the Guardians to release the similar-but-ineffective Yu Chang, who's now in Pittsburgh. Oscar Gonzalez stakes his claim on the right field position, and suddenly there's a valid reason for the Guardians to DFA Oscar Mercado, another contact-hitting outfielder who'd failed to live up to his first month in the bigs. This is the sort of comparative hustle I'd been expecting from Andres Gimenez to deliver unto Amed Rosario, but both Gimenez and Rosario are playing well right now, and any attempt to cull them into a competition has dissolved into Gimenez and Rosario becoming a pretty strong double play combo.

And the beauty of this team, I think, is the emphasis on contact, and on hitting it where they ain't. So many Guardians this year, including Amed Rosario, Steven Kwan, Myles Straw, Owen Miller and even Richie Palacios are more intent on contact than on power. And they're all playing really well right now. That's not saying this team doesn't benefit power hitters, as Josh Naylor's having a great year as well, but it's definitely a team that's built around someone like Jose Ramirez, a five tool guy who's as well known for his averages as his home runs.

The Guardians are doing so much well right now, and they're dominating a division that could have belonged to Minnesota or Chicago. I sincerely hope they hang onto it.

Coming Tomorrow- A pitcher who very nearly walked away with a no-hitter this season, but hasn't let it affect his best season in years.

Hoisting the Oscars

 

It's just odd to say out loud. In 2019, the Guardians bring up a speedy, contact-hitting right fielder named Oscar. Then he stops hitting. And 3 years later, the Guardians, in his place, bring up a speedy...contact-hitting...right fielder...named Oscar.

Wouldn't be any more diabolical if Rod Serling was writing it.

Part of me feels bad for somebody like Oscar Mercado, who was a big hit in 2019, and seemed so promising and foundational for Cleveland. And then...it just doesn't happen after that season. It's downright tragic, in a sense. And for it to be another hispanic right fielder named Oscar? Oh man. I sincerely hope Oscar Mercado can have a good season again, because he deserves it.

As for Oscar Gonzalez, the second of two Guardians rookies to light up the leagues this year...man, if this doesn't cement how sweet the future is gonna be in Cleveland, I dunno what does. Steven Kwan is still a contact killer and a great outfield piece, and now Oscar Gonzalez is hitting .417, with 25 hits in 15 games, more hits than people like Mercado and Austin Hedges who've played most of the season. You also have backup Richie Palacios, who's hitting .293 with 17 hits and 7 RBIs, and the other burgeoning talent arriving from elsewhere, like Myles Straw, Josh Naylor and Andres Gimenez, and it's no wonder this team has sped its way to 2nd.

This Guardians team is honestly a lot like the 2016 team, where you see a lot of sneaky GM decisions blooming, and the young pieces begin to cement themselves. The difference is that here we have a foundation that's already succeeded in the playoffs, and some pieces, namely Jose Ramirez, who's taken this team to a World Series. And upon this foundation, we can place these young pieces that are all in good shape right now, and then...who knows?

I should also mention that the rotation's in pretty decent shape too. Shane Bieber has taken a bit to get his ERA below 3, but he's back there now. Plesac and Quantrill are still in decent shape as innings-eaters. Triston McKenzie has found his control and is now a truly intimidating flamethrower. And in the absence of Aaron Civale, Konnor Pilkington has been a decent fifth man, bringing his ERA below 4 after 4 starts. It's not a huge, blockbuster rotation, but it gets the job done.

The Guardians are in second place right now, and unless the White Sox fire Tony LaRussa relatively soon, they will probably be there for a little while. And hell, there's even a chance this team could squeeze into a playoff spot later this year. Considering all the wild card hopefuls, it's not an overwhelming possibility, but it could happen. I do see this team competing starting next year, though. Especially if Francona and Ramirez do, in fact, stick around.

Coming Tomorrow-Speaking of teams that shouldn't be as high in the standings as they are, a hard-hitting outfielder for Pittsburgh.