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2023 Cleveland Guardians Season Thread

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Mcreek said:
His last year of AAA he hit .240/310/406

In 138 abs in the majors: .196/306/362

Don’t see this guy ever hitting enough to be an every day player
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Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Those AAA numbers are lacking context as he was struggling through injuries last year. He tore up AAA the previous year when he was healthy.

His track record is a plus bat with a plus glove. We'll see if it ever translates at the major league level, but I'd say the early returns on him are promising.
 
He never really "tore up" AAA but he was always pretty young for his level.

He has gone through periods where he looks really locked in though and those tend to coincide with more every day playing time.

When he looks locked in, it's his approach that carries his weight, alongside his ability to crush the ball when he makes contact.

I don't think he's ever going to be a high contact hitter, and if you are to judge someone by their batting average then Amed's your guy. But if you care about stuff like OBP and HRs then there's some potential with Arias, especially if pitchers are scared to throw him pitches down the middle, increasing his OBP.

Will I take an average defensive SS who hits around .220 but walks over 10% of the time with some decent power? Hell yeah I will. It's just a different pathway to offensive output.
 
KluberSociety said:
He never really "tore up" AAA but he was always pretty young for his level.

He has gone through periods where he looks really locked in though and those tend to coincide with more every day playing time.

When he looks locked in, it's his approach that carries his weight, alongside his ability to crush the ball when he makes contact.

I don't think he's ever going to be a high contact hitter, and if you are to judge someone by their batting average then Amed's your guy. But if you care about stuff like OBP and HRs then there's some potential with Arias, especially if pitchers are scared to throw him pitches down the middle, increasing his OBP.

Will I take an average defensive SS who hits around .220 but walks over 10% of the time with some decent power? Hell yeah I will. It's just a different pathway to offensive output.
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It feels like his strikeouts go down and his contact rate goes up when he plays more too.

Be curious what his K rate is over this past stretch from May 6th to now, I’m sure it isn’t as high as his season K rate.

And he’s still inexperienced. Only 160 plate appearances. But you can see him stringing together professional at bats with consistency. A lot of 5, 6, 7+ pitch at bats for him that surely end in some strikeouts, but I still think the more pitches you are able to see the more likely you’ll get a mistake pitch.
 
KluberSociety said:
He never really "tore up" AAA but he was always pretty young for his level.

He has gone through periods where he looks really locked in though and those tend to coincide with more every day playing time.

When he looks locked in, it's his approach that carries his weight, alongside his ability to crush the ball when he makes contact.

I don't think he's ever going to be a high contact hitter, and if you are to judge someone by their batting average then Amed's your guy. But if you care about stuff like OBP and HRs then there's some potential with Arias, especially if pitchers are scared to throw him pitches down the middle, increasing his OBP.

Will I take an average defensive SS who hits around .220 but walks over 10% of the time with some decent power? Hell yeah I will. It's just a different pathway to offensive output.
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284/348/454/802 as a 21 yr old in AAA after having never played a single inning of AA ball is "tearing it up" in my book. Especially with his defensive prowess.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Willy Adames is a good offensive comp to Arias, but Arias is probably better defensively if only slightly.
 
KluberSociety said:
He never really "tore up" AAA but he was always pretty young for his level.

He has gone through periods where he looks really locked in though and those tend to coincide with more every day playing time.

When he looks locked in, it's his approach that carries his weight, alongside his ability to crush the ball when he makes contact.

I don't think he's ever going to be a high contact hitter, and if you are to judge someone by their batting average then Amed's your guy. But if you care about stuff like OBP and HRs then there's some potential with Arias, especially if pitchers are scared to throw him pitches down the middle, increasing his OBP.

Will I take an average defensive SS who hits around .220 but walks over 10% of the time with some decent power? Hell yeah I will. It's just a different pathway to offensive output.
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We have an organization full of high contact left handed hitters... We need a right handed guy with power in all honesty. So if he has a plus defense and gives us 20+ HRs a season, then that's what we need...

He's also super young, what like 23? He's going to get stronger, so bringing in the element we need is important and I feel like he can do that with who he is...
 
If Arias is a plus glove at SS then even a .650 OPS is a positive player.
 
Arias is only 23 but already 217 LBS according to his profile. He looks to me as a kid that will be around 225 or so in his mid to late twenties. I think RF is his eventual position despite having prowess as a middle infielder. I will take a .240 hitter with projected 25-30 home run power in one of the corners
 
Mcreek said:
Arias is only 23 but already 217 LBS according to his profile. He looks to me as a kid that will be around 225 or so in his mid to late twenties. I think RF is his eventual position despite having prowess as a middle infielder. I will take a .240 hitter with projected 25-30 home run power in one of the corners
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Would be such a waste to put him in RF. Best value is SS, and if he grows out of that, then it’s 3B.
 
I remember a couple other guys who grew out of the SS position: Gary Sheffield and believe it or not Miguel Cabrera.
 
Mcreek said:
I remember a couple other guys who grew out of the SS position: Gary Sheffield and believe it or not Miguel Cabrera.
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Ripken didn't grow off of SS. Seager didn't grow off of SS. Adames hasn't grown off of SS. Correa hasn't grown off of SS. It will depend on how Arias takes care of himself.
 
sportscoach said:
We have an organization full of high contact left handed hitters... We need a right handed guy with power in all honesty. So if he has a plus defense and gives us 20+ HRs a season, then that's what we need...

He's also super young, what like 23? He's going to get stronger, so bringing in the element we need is important and I feel like he can do that with who he is...
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It doesn't really matter what way you face in the batters' box though, if you put up/don't put up the results. Because Arias hits righty and has raw power doesn't mean he translates into a lefty masher. It was actually Gimenez and Rosario who were our best weapons against lefties last year IIRC: one lefty and one righty. You're completely right that the organization lacks in offensive options against lefties, but for whatever reason it's been an issue even with the RH/switch hitters. I wonder why something like that would be, if it just has to do with amount of MiLB exposure, the training programs' focus, or just randomness. Noel might break the trend though.
 
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