The Cleveland Guardians decided, before spring training was over, that Myles Straw wouldn’t be their center fielder anymore.
They loved his defense and speed, but need more offense from the position and that’s why they decided to go with Tyler Freeman as their regular center fielder.
Freeman, so far, has a double, a home run, a stolen base, four RBI, and a .725 OPS.
Straw?
Well, he cleared waivers and is playing for Triple-A Columbus.
He appears to be doing well there, and recently showed he can hit the ball hard even if it wasn’t ideal contact in the air.
“#Guardians CF Myles Straw hit a ball 101.4 mph today in Triple-A Columbus 3-to-0 win over Omaha. Straw finished the game (1-5) and has started the season (3-13) over his first three games with the Clippers,” Guardians Prospective tweeted.
#Guardians CF Myles Straw hit a ball 101.4 mph today in Triple-A Columbus 3-to-0 win over Omaha. Straw finished the game (1-5) and has started the season (3-13) over his first three games with the Clippers.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/W6OzJgi7Uf
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 4, 2024
Hitting the ball 101.4 mph isn’t the issue for Straw: he even hit a ball 109.8 mph in 2021.
The problem is that he doesn’t do it often enough to represent any kind of offensive threat.
His hard-hit rate has been in the bottom 3% of the league in each of the last three campaigns, and the Guardians simply decided it was enough.
With Freeman, they might not have the same kind of defensive magician out there, but they do have much more offensive upside.
In any case, Straw has the best attitude and is willing to stay in Triple-A as organizational depth.
He is willing to work his way back to MLB and remains a valuable organizational piece.
His path towards playing time in the majors has gotten murky, though.
NEXT: Guardians Sit Atop Elite MLB List After First Week Of Play
