Chris Antonetti made clear on Sunday that the Cleveland Guardians have not settled on who will fill their two open roster spots when active rosters expand to 28 players on Tuesday.
The Guardians president of baseball operations spent much of the weekend working through the options with his staff, and Kyle Manzardo’s name has emerged as one of the more complicated cases on the list. Manzardo was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on August 3rd, the same day Cleveland acquired left-handed hitting first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, and he has responded by hitting .301 with a .965 OPS over 19 games with the Clippers. That kind of production would normally make a strong case for a call-up, but Lowe’s presence at first base complicates the picture.
“We don’t have a ton of at-bats to give that spot,” Antonetti said of a potential Manzardo call-up. “So it’s really going to be who complements the group that we have up here, because I expect that the group that’s here and in the clubhouse will continue to play regularly and get a lot of those at-bats.”
Antonetti expanded on that thought by explaining that the decision will come down to which player best complements the group already in Cleveland, since he expects the current roster to continue getting the bulk of the playing time down the stretch.
The Guardians have several other names in the mix for that position player spot. Prospect Ralphy Velazquez also came up in the conversation, though Antonetti described his path as a work in progress and noted he remains most comfortable at first base, a detail that lines up with earlier reporting on his continued development in Columbus.
On the pitching side, Antonetti indicated Cleveland will likely add another arm to the bullpen rather than expand to a six-man rotation, pointing to Franco Aleman and Daniel Espino as relief options with Columbus. Slade Cecconi, currently on the 10-day injured list with right arm fatigue, worked three innings and up to 50 pitches in a rehab outing on Sunday, and Antonetti said a decision on his next step will come after Sunday’s game. The Guardians also have a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on Friday to plan around, which could factor into how they use Cecconi in the coming weeks.
NEXT: José Ramírez Opens Up About Playing Through Pain
