The Cleveland Guardians need more power in their lineup.
This isn't a secret and it's they've been searching for additional pop for the last two seasons now. The front office hoped their free-agent signings heading into the season would help with this, but neither of them lasted past the trade deadline.
Now it's time the organization turns to its prospects to fill that void. Stephen Vogt made it clear the trio of Deyvison De Los Santos, Johnathan Rodriguez, and Jhonkensy Noel have the skillsets to impact this team.
"They're right there," said Vogt. "With [De Los Santos], he's a Rule 5 pick so we're going to get a good look at him. Jhonkensy has been on the roster for a few years now and he's worked really hard this winter to be more agile and working on his speed. So, he looks good in the outfield, he looks good at first, and he's played some third ... Jonathan, man, the power is real with that guy. All three of them the power is real."
As Vogt said, De Los Santos being a Rule 5 pick means that he'll have to be on the big league roster. But at some point, the front office is going to have to see what Rodriguez and Noel can do at the major league level.
Vogt spends time to highlight this group, but the Guardians also still need to get looks at Geoge Valera at some point. This only adds to the crowded prospect outfield.
The one concern with these three and is common for power-centered hitters is their strikeout/swing and miss rate. These stats are relatively high with each player, but Vogt said they can live with "a lot" of it as long as "they're impacting the baseball the way they're capable of."
There are only so many roster spots so each player will have to wait for their opportunity and take advantage of it.
"For all three of them, it's just focusing on what they can control and continuing to develop defensively while making good swing decisions. What pitches are they swinging at and what are they doing with those mistakes when they get them? "
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