The Cleveland Guardians’ lineup has produced more than four runs just one time in the month of June, which is a huge reason why the team has already fallen back to .500 on Sunday, getting swept by the Seattle Mariners.
One player who contributed to the lineup’s lack of thump this season has been Jhonkensy Noel, who the team was expecting to break out into a middle-of-the-order power bat, but instead, Noel slumped to a disastrous .392 OPS over 46 games, which resulted in him getting sent down to Triple-A recently to sort out his swing.
In five games since being sent down, Noel has been raking, and he stayed hot on Saturday with a pair of hits and an RBI to boost his OPS to 1.131 since the demotion.
Cleveland #Guardians 23yr old OF Jhonkensy Noel collected a pair of hits tonight (2-5 2R 2B RBI) driving in a run in the team's win at Buffalo.
Noel over first 5 games since being optioned to Triple-A.
7-20 4R 2(2B) 2HR 5RBI 1BB
AVG .350
OBP .381
SLG .750
OPS 1.131… pic.twitter.com/gUYKqrw7cT— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) June 15, 2025
Noel hit a pair of massive home runs earlier in the week as well after hitting just two all season with Cleveland, so it’s nice to see him quickly taking well to the time back in the minors.
With the Guardians’ offense struggling so mightily, they need power from anywhere they can get it, and there’s a high likelihood we’ll see Noel back with the club at some point to hopefully provide some of that.
Noel provided a major boost to the lineup last season after being called up, hitting 13 homers in 179 at-bats, but he never came close to that level of production in 2025.
He is still just 23, so it’s no surprise that the league adjusted to him.
Big Christmas will rise again in due time.
NEXT: Guardians Are Favorites To Sign Intriguing Outfield Prospect
