Brayan Rocchio has not gotten the attention he deserves this season.
Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes flagged Rocchio as a player flying under the radar in this year’s All Star conversation, and the case is not hard to make once the numbers are laid out. Rocchio enters Wednesday hitting .269 with 5 home runs, 32 RBI and a .740 OPS, numbers that rank him among the better shortstops in baseball when the full context is considered.
“I think Brayan Rocchio’s just a guy getting overlooked. You know, he bats ninth. He didn’t start the season at shortstop… he’s probably the one of the most deserving to get some All Star recognition,” Hoynes wrote.
Hitting ninth typically means fewer plate appearances and fewer chances to pad a stat line over the course of a season, yet Rocchio has still managed to climb into the top 100 in OPS leaguewide. His .269 average ties him for 53rd in baseball, a notable mark for a player who spends most nights at the bottom of the lineup.
Rocchio went 0-4 in the series opener, a quiet night that dropped his recent surge back to earth after a stretch where he hit safely in four of his last seven games. Even with that blemish, his June numbers remain strong, hitting .308 with a home run and 5 RBI over his last 12 games in the month.
Cleveland sits at 39-34, holding the top spot in the AL Central by a slim margin over the White Sox. Players like Rocchio, doing steady work without much fanfare, are part of the reason the Guardians remain in that position. Whether voters and league insiders take notice before the All Star rosters are finalized remains to be seen, but Hoynes has made his case, and the numbers back him up.
NEXT: Stephen Vogt Makes Honest Admission About Loss To Brewers
