The Cleveland Guardians are a very competitive baseball team, with outfielder Chase DeLauter blossoming right before our eyes and a solid pitching staff keeping them in virtually every game. There are, however, a few players on the roster yet to hit their stride.
Cade Smith, for example, hasn’t been his dominant self to this point, and Slade Cecconi was shelled in his lone start of the season.
These two players, however, are struggling the most in the first eight games of the 2026 campaign:
Bo Naylor
Naylor was considered a breakout candidate by many, given his excellent track record in the minor leagues (.781 OPS) and his 136 wRC+ in September last year. It’s fair to say he is far from that version of himself right now, though.
Before taking the field on Saturday, Naylor is hitting .174 with a paltry .208 on-base percentage and a putrid 14 wRC+. That’s 86 percent worse than the league-average hitter.
Naylor has no extra-base hits and has struck out seven times, with just one walk. All he has managed to this point is four singles.
Naylor is not a liability behind the plate. Still, if he’s not hitting, it’s hard to justify playing him almost every day instead of the much better defensive catcher, Austin Hedges. It’s still early, that’s for sure, but his lack of consistency is baffling for a guy with so much talent.
After a promising 2023 in which he had a 123 wRC+, Naylor has put together two very disappointing seasons in 2024 (74 wRC+) and 2025 (85 wRC+). He needs to show something.
Kyle Manzardo
Unlike Naylor, Manzardo was consistent and highly productive for the Guardians last year. It was his breakout party, in fact, with 27 home runs and a 113 wRC+ that indicates above-average performance.
He also drove in 70 runs, a solid tally for a young, up-and-coming hitter. The 2026 campaign has been less kind, though.
Manzardo is the only player in Cleveland to boast a negative wRC+ so far this season, with a -7 mark. He has only two hits and is striking out 38.7 percent of the time.
His 9.7 percent walk rate is a tad better than the league average, but he has no extra-base hits. He has been a liability for the Guardians so far.
Given how good he was last year, there is hope that Manzardo can pick it up at some point. He has some leash, because manager Stephen Vogt and president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti know what he can do.
He needs to start producing, though.
NEXT: Travis Bazzana Continues Hot Start In Triple-A
