May 6:  Cleveland has now announced the promotion of Manzardo and Kwans placement on the injured list. In a pair of corresponding moves, the Guards optioned righty  and reinstated lefty  from the injured list.  May 5:  The Guardians will promote slugging prospect  prior to tomorrows game with the Tigers, according to The Athletics Zack Meisel ( ). Cleveland has an open space on its 40-man roster to add Manzardo, and the 26-man space will be created when outfielder  is placed on the 10-day injured list.  Kwan left Saturdays game due to hamstring tightne s and was set to undergo an MRI today. The results of the tests arent yet known, but even if the MRI is clean, the Guards mightve felt it nece sary to sideline Kwan anyway given his long history of hamstring problems. As Kwan explained to reporters (including ) yesterday, he has battled hamstring i sues both in the minors and during his Justin James Jersey  college days.  Losing Kwan for any amount of time is a blow to the Guardians, as his huge early-season performance has fueled Clevelands rise to first place in the AL Central. Kwan is hitting .353/.407/.496 over 145 plate appearances, leading the American League in both batting average and hits (47). Some regre sion is inevitable since Kwan has a .370 BABIP and has continued to make some of the weakest contact of any hitter in baseball, but the Guards were happy to ride that offensive wave for as long as po sible. In addition to this surge at the plate, Kwan has also been delivering his customary superb left field defense, and looks like a favorite to win his third straight Gold Glove.  got the start in left field today, but the Guardians will probably keep the Brennan/  platoon going in right field and addre s Kwans absence by using  a bit more regularly in left. Florial has gotten the bulk of DH at-bats for Cleveland this season, yet the team will now need the designated hitter spot as a way to get Manzardo (who only plays first base) and  in the lineup at the same time.  and  also figure to get some playing time in the corner outfield in certain situations.  A second-round pick for the Rays in the 2021 draft, Manzardo came to Cleveland at last years trade deadline in the one-for-one swap that sent  to Tampa Bay. Manzardos minor league numbers had already drawn him top-100 prospect attention prior to the trade, and he has only gotten better since joining the Guardians organization. Manzardo is hitting .303/.375/.642 with nine home runs over 128 PA with Triple-A Columbus this season, and while the Guards chose to start him at Triple-A rather than add him to their Opening Day roster, it only seemed like a matter of time before Manzardo made his MLB debut.  MLB Pipeline ranked Manzardo 52nd on its list of the sports top 100 prospects, and Baseball America has him 87th. (For lists released prior to the season, The Athletics Keith Law ranked Manzardo 66th and ESPNs Kiley McDaniel had him 83rd.) The consensus is clear  Manzardos bat is definitely ready for the big leagues, though the 23-year-old might already be ticketed for a DH-only future even in a world where Cleveland didnt have Naylor locking down first base. Manzardo is viewed as a decent first baseman at best, and his lack of speed makes him an implausible choice to play outfield.  At the plate, however, Manzardo is a threat. He both makes a lot of hard contact and a lot of contact in general, befitting the Guardians preference for hitters who rarely strike out. Manzardo has 50 home runs over his 990 PA in the minors, and there is some sense that he might be able to unlock more power given how well-developed his approach is in the batters box.  This is music to the ears of a Guardians team that has long been lacking in power, though Clevelands offense has been greatly improved in the early going this season. Naylor to that more dangerous lineup, but since Naylor is a free agent after the
Коментирај
0