When the Guardians lost José Ramírez and Angel Martínez to injuries, it would have been easy to treat the stretch ahead like damage control. Instead, Cleveland’s rookies have kept forcing their way into the conversation - and now the real headache is what happens when the veterans are ready to come back.
On the latest Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga dug into how the young group has handled the pressure and why the roster picture is about to get complicated. The biggest theme: the Guardians haven’t just survived without key pieces, they’ve found players making real cases to stay in the mix.
Brayan Rocchio has been a big part of that, even if he’s not technically a rookie. Hoynes said the shortstop has taken on a more dependable role in the lineup while Cleveland has been shorthanded.
“Rocchio seems to me, really has stepped up. They moved him up in the lineup, as we’ve talked about before, to replace Martínez and Ramírez. And no matter where you put him, he’s really swinging a... he’s really kind of stepped into that role that Jose has had, you know, kind of the second, third or fourth hitter that can be depended on to produce at big moments,” Hoynes said.
That’s a significant comparison, and it says plenty about how Rocchio has been carrying himself during this stretch.
Khalil Watson has made an even louder statement. Against the White Sox, the outfield rookie has been electric over six games, batting .292 with seven RBI, three stolen bases and a walk-off hit. That kind of production creates its own problem: once Ramírez and Martínez are back, Cleveland has to figure out where Watson fits, because sending him to the bench after that run would be a tough sell.
Chase DeLauter has also added to the mix. He returned from a rib injury earlier in the homestand, and while there were questions about whether he was back too soon, he’s answered with impact. DeLauter homered on Sunday for his eighth of the season and has become a steady late-inning threat.
“The late innings sort of belong to Chase DeLauter when it comes to stepping to the plate and, you know, putting up some sort of those Guards Ball at-bats that we’re used to seeing,” Noga said on the podcast. “He really fits the mold there.”
That fits Cleveland’s identity perfectly. The Guardians want contact, pressure, and long at-bats, and DeLauter has slotted into that approach in the biggest moments.
The homestand ended 5-5, a record that looks ordinary until you factor in the injuries and the amount of responsibility handed to rookies. Even with Ramírez and Martínez out for weeks, Cleveland is still just one game back in the AL Central.
Now the challenge shifts from surviving to sorting things out. Ramírez is moving closer to returning.
Martínez is taking batting practice. And when both veterans are back, the Guardians will have some tough choices to make about the players who helped keep the season moving.
In Other News...
Guardians Just Lost A Pitching Safety Net They Could Not Spare
The Guardians have spent the season leaning on remarkable rotation continuity, sticking with the same five starters all year and getting steady results from a group that has carried a 3.80 ERA. For a club trying to keep its pitching plan intact, that kind of stability matters, especially when the organization is counting on the pipeline to keep feeding the big league staff.
Chris Antonettis announcement on Khal Stephen cuts directly into that depth. The pitching prospects surgery removes one of the more important fallback options the Guardians had stocked away, leaving Logan Allen, Austin Peterson and Yorman Gmez as the names most likely to be asked to help next if the major league staff needs reinforcements. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Finally Have An Internal Answer For Their Biggest Problem
Power has been the missing ingredient for Cleveland all season, with the club sitting near the bottom of the majors in home runs and still weighing whether the answer has to come from outside the organization. If the Guardians decide to shop for help, though, there are at least a couple of internal names worth tracking, and analyst Jensen Lewis pointed to two prospects who could eventually change the conversation.
Jace LaViolette, the former Texas A&M first-round pick, has been producing in High-A, even if the strikeouts remain part of the package. Ralphy Velazquez is the other bat drawing attention, and his path looks a little longer as he settles into Triple-A, with a realistic arrival window that points more toward 2027 than next season. [Read more 🡒]
Triston McKenzies Comeback Just Hit Another Painful Turn
Triston McKenzies path back to relevance has taken another rough detour, with the right-hander now looking for his next stop after a difficult stretch in the Padres organization. Once one of Clevelands most intriguing young arms, McKenzie had built real momentum with his breakout 2022 season before an arm injury in 2023 changed the trajectory of his career and sent him into a long fight to regain his form.
The latest setback came after a brutal run at Triple-A El Paso, where the command issues that have followed him for months never really let up. For a pitcher whose appeal has always started with feel and strike-throwing, the numbers told a harsh story, and now free agency gives him another reset point even as the unanswered question around his comeback remains the one that matters most. [Read more 🡒]