Things we know, things we don't: Guardians Hitters Edition
It's officially that time of year again when the footballs are all put away ((Unless you are watching the XFL and Josh Gordon, which if that's the case, please find some help.)) and the baseball mitts start coming out. The Guardians start Spring Training baseball against Will Benson's new team and the intrastate rival Cincinnati Reds this Saturday the 25th with the regular season commencing almost a month later in Seattle. In preparation for the start of the new year, I wanted to do something a little different than the tired worn out "W2W4" posts, and thusly "Things We Know, Things We Don't" was born. Some of the things we know will change, and some of the things we don't will move up the listing to "known" status, but allow the passing of time to age us all evenly, even my takes as they are listed below.
Thing we know
The starting nine is pretty much ready to goThere are seemingly no position battles for starting gigs in this year's Spring Training. Josh Bell was signed to take over first base and absolve all of us from having to watch Owen Miller attempt to do baseball things. Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario are back again as the double-play combo. However, the steady footsteps coming from behind being heard by Rosario should get louder as Brayan Rocchio is in line to play his first full season in Triple-A Columbus. Obviously, Jose Ramirez, JRam, The Goat, my good time boy will be back at third after having surgery in the offseason to fix his broken thumb, a thumb that was likely broken in June and prevented Jose from going full Nuclear Man in the second half. As such, there is not much playing time for utility guys like Tyler Freeman and Gabriel Arias.The outfield seems similarly locked in as well: Gold Glover and the reigning third-place champion of the Rookie of the Year Steven Kwan in left, Myles Straw and his rehabilitating bat in center field, and Oscar "Sponge Bob" Gonzalez in right field. While it's a far cry from the big bomber squads of the past, the bats in the Guardians' grass stand to be decent. Time will tell is OG is gonna pumpkin or not ((A verb I created and am gonna get trademarked.)) or if last year was the beginning of the end of Straw's downfall offensively, but for Opening Day, you can probably write in the position guys already.That includes the catcher position too, believe it or not. As much noise as we heard about Bo Naylor at the end of the year, and it was all warranted, all signs point to him starting out in Columbus. Ma Naylor's second son not being on the Opening Day roster is a letdown, but not the end of the world, as he will undoubtedly be up by midseason to caddy for free agent signee Mike Zunino.
Thing we don't
The bench seems to be in fluxConversely to the starting lineup, the makeup of the backups seems to be ready for a little shakeup. ((That sounded like a rap lyric.)) We can reasonably assume that Josh Naylor will get the majority of the starts at designated hitter, but how much will he be in right field this year? What does that do to OG, do they flip-flop, or will someone like Jose Ramirez get DH and Gabe Arias fills in at third? It's been reported that Freeman as well as Arias have been tossed into the outfield rotation, at least to start out Spring Training, but how much will they actually play out there? With the infield as it stands, JRam, Rosario, and Gimenez don't take many days off, so getting those two youngsters that have little more to prove in the minors some work seems to be the idea, but are they then supplanting Gonzalez? Straw? Kwan?! ((Read that as though I was Captain Kirk and Spock just died, but replace "Khan" of "Kwan!!!"))The outfield, even without Freeman and Arias, is still in flux for the backups as well. It got a little less murky when the front office dealt away Nolan Jones and Will Benson, but Will Brennan seems to be the natural 4th outfielder, and possibly supplanter to Straw if the bat fails. Brennan can't match up with Straw's elite-elite defense, but as Keith Law has written, he can be a "plus defender who isn't swinging a wet newspaper". Brennan is as much of a lock to make the roster as anyone, but how much he will play remains to be seen, and that's without tabulating George Valera who very much has a chance to make the Opening Day roster and could/should/will be in the bigs sometime this year.An aside on Straw: I said and wrote last year, I think Straw's struggles last season were injured-related, as seemingly every batted ball was going the opposite way like he wasn't able to square up and pull. The stats prove it out a bit: his Soft% was up from last season, and his Pull% was the lowest since 2019. Straw is not a power hitter, that much is obvious, but he is at his best when he's able to shoot the gaps and use his speed to create extra bases, whether it be legging out doubles that slower players wouldn't dream of or creating havoc on the basepaths. A return to form and supposed health would be a boon to the bottom portion of the lineup.
Thing we know
The bigger bases will be getting a workoutOnly two teams stole more bases than Cleveland last year, and surely this year they will look to take the title, as the increased bases look like extra large pizza boxes out there, comparatively. With the contact that Cleveland makes and the frequency with which they get on base, they use those margins to squeak out the extra base by going first to third as often as possible and on the basepaths sliding into second. Everyone will be motoring this year, but few teams have had as much practice as Cleveland has had in stealing. The team had five players steal 18 or more bases last year, and the struggling Straw led the team with 21(!); imagine how many he might snag if his bat is as strong as the pasta that broke Terry Francona's tooth.