Details Emerge About Guardians’ Depth Chart In 2026

The Cleveland Guardians shocked the world by making the playoffs last season. They weren’t supposed to go that far, given their offensive struggles.

Now, with Stephen Vogt set to enter his third year in charge of the team, and fresh off two divisional titles and back-to-back Manager of the Year awards, the team will expect to find more consistency and take another leap. That won’t come thanks to many reinforcements, though. As pointed out by team analyst Dan Szymborski on X, the projected depth chart will be pretty similar to what we saw last season.

At least, it still features Steven Kwan.

“Here’s a sneak peek at the ZiPS x FanGraphs depth chart for the next ZiPS team, the Cleveland Guardians,” Szymborski posted on X.

Here's a sneak peek at the ZiPS x @FanGraphs depth chart for the next ZiPS team, the Cleveland #Guardians.#ZiPS26 pic.twitter.com/cdd82H2tWD

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 16, 2025

Perhaps the most notorious change is that the Guardians will most likely roll with Kyle Manzardo as their everyday first baseman, with rookie C.J. Kayfus backing him up. They will also most likely have George Valera over David Fry as the primary designated hitter.

This team is in desperate need of an offensive punch, and both of those moves should be more than enough to shake things up. Valera is up-and-coming, and Fry is coming off a down year. As for Manzardo, he should be able to protect Jose Ramirez in the middle of the lineup. They also project that Travis Bazzana and Juan Brito will get some playing time at second base behind Gabriel Arias.

And with Chase DeLauter also potentially taking care of business at center field, the 2026 Cleveland Guardians will most likely rely heavily on young, unproven, yet incredibly talented players to get back to the playoffs.