Time for Guardians’ Vogt to Embrace the Power of Benching Players

Some players don’t need to start every series

The Guardians have finally demoted Brayan Rocchio to Columbus to get full-time reps there at shortstop - what will they do with Will Brennan who has replaced him?

First of all, welcome back, Will Brennan, a good person and teammate. Also, good luck to Brayan Rocchio who can now do what Gabriel Arias did last season and spend his time in Columbus gearing up for a return trip to the big leagues if he makes the adjustments he is asked to make.

The Guardians now have ten hitters I want to see in the lineup as often as possible: Bo Naylor, Kyle Manzardo, Carlos Santana, Daniel Schneemann, Gabriel Arias, Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, Angel Martinez, Nolan Jones and Jhonkensy Noel. They also now have three hitters I would rather not see take at-bats if it can be avoided in Austin Hedges, Will Brennan and Will Wilson. Now, Hedges will, typically, get one start per series, and that’s fine. He’s being opportunistic as a hitter and retains his elite receiving skills. We need not discuss his usage further.

Let’s turn our attention to some needed adjustments to be made when realizing that two of your four bench players are Will Brennan and Will Wilson. Neither player is a hitter that a team should prioritize putting in the lineup in any manner. Wilson has a career minor league wRC+ of 93. Brennan was hitting 108 wRC+ with a 5.1% BB-rate and looking mostly like a contact-first hitter who swings at everything that he has been for his major league career. They offer a useful floor of players who will give their teams decent at-bats and play solid defense. They should not get more than one start a week for playoff-contending teams.

I admire Vogt’s philosophy, often-stated, that he wants to make sure every player gets a start in each series, or at least a start’s worth of at-bats. However, there are certain players who have established values whose values will likely not improve with further opportunities. They still offer value to a baseball team, but they don’t need to be placed in lineups on a regular basis to provide that value.

Will Brennan can give Nolan Jones a break if his back issues are still bothering him, as we wait for CJ Kayfus to learn right field and/or Chase DeLauter to get healthy. He can provide some decent speed and defense when called upon. It will not hurt his development or growth if he gets only one start a week because he is very likely a fully developed player. Wilson can play second, third and short in a pinch and provide (probably?) a slight upgrade from Daniel Schneemann against some left-handed pitchers. He’s living a dream making the big leagues - we shouldn’t expect him to be able to offer more if given one start a week. As I see Brennan is in the lineup tonight as a right-fielder pushing Martinez to the bench, I am quite distressed... this isn’t the lesson that should have been learned.

The Guardians front office have given Stephen Vogt a gift - the ability to get a good hard look at his top ten hitters without feeling bad for sitting the other three. Here’s hoping he opens that gift and puts it to good use.