The Guardians optioned second baseman Juan Brito and outfielders Angel Martínez and Johnathan Rodríguez to Triple-A Columbus. It’s most notable concerning Brito, who entered camp with a superb likelihood to safe the second base job.
Cleveland created a gap on the place once they dealt Andrés Giménez to Toronto to dump the practically $100MM remaining on his contract. Final yr’s first general choose Travis Bazzana is the anticipated long-term reply. He hasn’t gotten past Excessive-A, so he’s unlikely to be an element earlier than the second half on the earliest.
The 23-year-old Brito was a way more lifelike candidate to interrupt camp. He’s been on the 40-man roister because the Guardians swapped Nolan Jones to Colorado to amass him in the course of the 2022-23 offseason. Brito spent all of final season on non-obligatory task to Triple-A Columbus. He hit .256/.365/.443 with a sturdy 13.5% stroll charge towards a modest 16.1% strikeout share. He popped 21 homers and stole 13 bases.
Brito doesn’t have enormous bodily instruments, however the well-rounded offensive profile and talent to play in the midst of the diamond landed him among the many league’s High 100 prospects at FanGraphs. The switch-hitter had a weird Spring Coaching. He hit 4 residence runs in 39 journeys to the plate, however these accounted for all however three of his complete hits. He hit .189 with a .231 on-base share that wasn’t sufficient to seize an Opening Day job.
The Guardians will seemingly go together with a mix of Tyler Freeman, Daniel Schneemann and doubtlessly Gabriel Arias on the keystone. The righty-hitting Freeman owns a modest .223/.304/.329 slash in components of three seasons, however he’s been on fireplace this spring (.278/.381/.583 in 14 video games). Schneemann, a lefty bat, hit .218/.303/.368 in 73 video games as a 27-year-old rookie final season. He’s additionally had an enormous exhibiting in camp (.265/.342/.559 over 14 contests). Schneemann has moved throughout the infield and outfield and solely logged 59 innings at second base between Triple-A and the majors final yr.
Arias is out of choices and must make the group or be uncovered to waivers. The 25-year-old utilityman has hit a pair homers this spring however has solely a .275 OBP in 15 video games. His plate self-discipline has been a serious drawback over his three large league seasons. He’s a .212/.274/.350 hitter with a 32.3% strikeout charge over 563 plate appearances.
