The Guardians introduced a roster transfer forward of Recreation 2 of the ALDS this afternoon: Angel Martínez will sub in for Tyler Freeman, who has been faraway from the roster after struggling a left indirect pressure. Based on Mandy Bell of MLB.com, Freeman harm his indirect whereas taking part in in a simulated recreation. Main League Baseball has already accredited the substitution.
Freeman, 25, appeared in 118 video games for the Guardians this season. A transformed infielder, her noticed most of his taking part in time in heart discipline but in addition took reps at second base, third base, shortstop, and DH. As well as, he was a daily pinch-hitter and pinch-runner for supervisor Stephen Vogt. Whereas he wasn’t notably productive in any facet of the sport, his pace, contact abilities, and defensive versatility helped him earn taking part in time all year long. Nonetheless, he didn’t seem in Recreation 1 of the ALDS, and he’s now ineligible to return till the World Collection, ought to Cleveland advance that far.
Martínez, 22, made his large league debut in June however struggled to stay on the Guardians’ roster. Nonetheless, he hit nicely in 55 video games at Triple-A this 12 months, producing an .812 OPS and 111 wRC+. Certainly, he was so red-hot at Triple-A to start out September (182 wRC+ in 10 video games) that he bumped Freeman off the energetic roster. Sadly for Martínez, he simply couldn’t discover the identical success in opposition to MLB pitching, going 9-for-41 (.220) with a .517 OPS and a 51 wRC+ over 12 video games after his newest promotion. That doubtless explains why the Guardians went again to Freeman in favor of Martínez on the ALDS roster within the first place. With Freeman on the shelf, Cleveland will flip again to Martínez to fill the function of the athletic backup outfielder/pinch-runner/utility man off the bench.
