LATEST NEWS: Breakout prospects for Guardians spring training in 2024 (Podcast)
Ohio’s Cleveland Every year, a few unknown players steal the show during spring training. Depending in part on how well they perform in exhibition games, they may even find themselves on the opening day roster. Juan Brito had a fantastic spring season the previous year, which placed him on Cleveland’s radar and led the Cactus League in walks. But in Goodyear, Arizona, who will be the breakout star of this year?
Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga examine potential breakout players for the Guardians on Wednesday, including position players, beginning pitchers, and relievers. In the next two months, one or more of the players on the list may establish themselves and earn a position on the big league roster.
Joe Noga (00:15): Greetings and salutations on this return to the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. Paul Hoynes Hoey has joined me, Joe Noga. The time approaching when pitchers and catchers report to spring training is just one week away. We’re looking at several possible breakthrough players for the Guardians’ spring training season today. A little time after that, we’ll have the first complete team exercise. Who do we believe will be able to leave a lasting impact at spring training? It’s not a guarantee that the person is one of the 40 players on the roster. A breakthrough candidate doesn’t always have to be an invitee on the non-roster or anything similar. Any camper who essentially goes above and beyond expectations or inspires others might be the oneturn around and pay attention, and perhaps that will win them a chance at some point in the future. They become a possibility during the regular season in the event of an injury, trade, or performance problem. We thus made the decision to select candidates from the starting pitchers and relievers, of which each of us has one, as well as position players. Starting now, let’s focus on each of our position players. For the 2024 spring training, who do you think will be the position players’ breakout candidate?
Paul Hoynes (01:47): Alright, Brian Rocchio will be my choice. Joe, he wasn’t exactly a surprise choice, but I believe he is ready for a good spring training performance and that he is clearly competing for a spot to try and earn the shortstop job. He had an amazing winter ball season just past. This winter in Venezuela, he assisted LaGuardia in winning the Venezuelan professional title. They advanced to the Caribbean World Series, so when he gets to Goodyear, he will get right to work.
Joe Noga (02:25): Yes, that series at the Caribbean World, which takes place in Miami from February 1st to February 9th. What, four teams total will compete in the series? It was, I think, also Puerto Rico in there. And as far as I know, Yao is Rocchi’s teammate.
02:47 Paul Hoynes: Yes, indeed. Harold Ramirez from Tampa Bay, Mercedes Escobar, and our friend from Ramirez all contributed to Venezuela’s league title—the team’s first in over forty years. And after they won, the state’s governor proclaimed a national holiday. Therefore, the day after they won the title, nobody had to report to work. That must be very awesome. And we have occasionally seen Joe, this Rocchio. During the previous season, he had four ups and downs with Cleveland. He is a switch hitter who is 23 years old, 5 10 1 70. We didn’t get a really nice lengthy shot because he only scored 247 for the Guardians in 23 games.
Joe Noga 04:12: Yes, it appears like both his pop and his strength are beginning to show through. You said that there were seven home runs and thirty doubles at AAA. Compared to previous season, it felt like the ball was leaping off his bat a little bit more. Regarding defence, I believe you brought up those 23 games. He was able to play right away with Cleveland. A somewhat negative impression. Despite the fact that he blew a game against the White Sox with two Hess playing third base, we’ve shown that he’s a really good middle defence. Later in the season in major league games, I believe he has also produced some incredible plays up the middle. Thus, he’s
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