The Cleveland Guardians are playing the third game of a four-game set against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
They lost on Monday and walked off the Twins on Tuesday.
In its never-ending quest for offense, Cleveland has been mixing and matching with their lineup in the last few games.
As a result of that quest for the best possible batting order, starting shortstop Brayan Rocchio has been losing ground in manager Stephen Vogt’s consideration.
That’s what Guardians insider Chris Assenheimer reported on Wednesday.
“Looks like shortstop Brayan Rocchio will be on the bench for a bit. Vogt said Arias and Schneemann are playing better, so…” he wrote on his X account.
Looks like shortstop Brayan Rocchio will be on the bench for a bit. Vogt said Arias and Schneemann are playing better, so …
— Chris AssenheimerC-T (@CAwesomeheimer) April 30, 2025
Cleveland has already announced their lineup for today’s game.
Go-ahead hump day.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/V9cxTeRfsx
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 30, 2025
Gabriel Arias is starting at shortstop and Daniel Schneemann is manning second base, the position Arias was most frequently playing up until this point.
Vogt ran the same script on Tuesday, too.
Rocchio’s last start came on Monday when he went 0-for-4.
Rocchio is one of the hardest-working players on the Guardians’ roster and is a very solid fielder.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t developed as hoped on the offensive facet of the game.
This year, Rocchio is slashing a highly disappointing .205/.277/.247 with no home runs in 73 at-bats.
His .524 OPS heading into Wednesday’s action is even worse than the .614 mark he had in 2024.
The Guardians’ patience is apparently reaching critical levels, which is saying a lot because Cleveland is a firm believer in giving prospects and young players time to shine and develop their abilities.
Time will tell if the team goes back to Rocchio eventually or if they are ready to move on from him.
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