The Cleveland Guardians are 30-17, first in the AL Central with a 1.5-game cushion.
As usual, the pitching has been mostly behind the early-season success.
What about the offense, though?
It has been good, but not great.
Cleveland ranks 12th in slugging percentage with a .393 mark, and tied for ninth in home runs with 51.
In other words, it has been much better than last year, but still has room to improve.
With their most recent roster move, the Guards intend to shore up those two offensive categories: home runs and slugging percentage.
They are calling up a very good prospect, Johnathan Rodriguez, to Cleveland.
One roster move before we begin our series against the Mets.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/DeurhxKvDm
— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) May 20, 2024
This was a much anticipated move by fans.
Rodriguez hit 29 home runs last year between Double-A and Triple-A, slugging well over .500 at each stop.
In 2024, he was slashing a cool .276/.389/.449 with seven long balls in 43 games in Columbus.
The writing was on the wall for Ramon Laureano, who is hitting .143/.265/.229 for the Guardians this season.
With the move, the team is trying to increase its power ceiling a bit, and Rodriguez has the skillset for that.
His swing is long and he has some strikeout issues, but when he connects, the ball travels far.
He also knows how to take a walk, with a 15.7 percent walk rate in Triple-A this year.
There might be a bit of an adjustment period at first, as it has happened even with the top prospects making their debut this year.
In the end, however, Rodriguez has what it takes to win at least semi-regular playing time for Cleveland.
He could be, when fully developed, a 25-30 homer hitter for the Guardians.
They haven’t had too many of those in recent seasons.
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