2024 All-Star Has Become A Big Liability For The Guardians

The 2024 Cleveland Guardians were, in many senses, a magical team. They went on an amazing postseason run and made it all the way to the American League Championship Series.

One of the main driving forces behind that team was utilityman David Fry, who finally established himself in the majors, became an All-Star, and finished the season with a cool 129 wRC+. Oh, and he hit one of the most celebrated home runs in recent memory to win Game 3 of that ALCS.

After that postseason, Fry underwent Tommy John surgery, missed the beginning of the 2025 campaign, and hasn’t looked the same ever since. The 30-year-old is slashing a highly disappointing .184/.299/.340 in 2026, just one year after batting .171 with a 63 wRC+ in 2025.

Fry, who is supposed to be a lefty masher for the Guardians, is currently sporting an 80 wRC+ against them this year. If he can’t produce while facing southpaws, Cleveland has no incentive to play him other than his valuable versatility.

The situation with Fry has become almost unbearable in the last few weeks.

“Cleveland Guardians’ David Fry since June 10th over 28 games and 63 plate appearances: AVG .073, OBP .190, SLG .236, OPS .427, wRC+ 22,” Guardians Prospective said.

Cleveland #Guardians David Fry since June 10th over 28 games and 63 plate appearances:

AVG .073
OBP .190
SLG .236
OPS .427
wRC+ 22

Cleveland #Guardians David Fry since the start of the 2025 season over 135 games and 321 plate appearances:

AVG .178
OBP .265
SLG .352
OPS .617…

— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 27, 2026

Basically, Fry has been awful for about a month and a half now. No, he doesn’t play every day, but he is also not doing what the manager asks of him, which is producing against left-handers.

If we extend the scope and analyze Fry’s stats over the last two years (post-surgery), they don’t paint a particularly promising picture.

“Cleveland Guardians’ David Fry since the start of the 2025 season over 135 games and 321 plate appearances: AVG .178, OBP .265, SLG .352, OPS .617, wRC+ 73,” he said.

It’s clear that the Guardians must be active before the trade deadline if they don’t want their season to spiral out of control. Everybody says that they need to add a right-handed bat, and that’s in large part due to Fry’s deep struggles over the last couple of years.

The blame shouldn’t entirely be his to shoulder, but he is one of the main culprits behind Cleveland’s struggles vs. southpaws. It’s time for the organization to step up and bring in a significant upgrade.