Cleveland Guardians Urged to Make Shocking Kyle Manzardo Move

Cleveland Guardians designated hitter Kyle Manzardo got off to a strong starter this season, slugging eight home runs between March and April for an .853 OPS.

Since then, however, times have been tough for the young slugger, and it has gotten so bad that Bernie Pleskoff of Forbes has advocated for the Guardians to send Manzardo down to the minors.

“He needs work on his defense at first base. He is fooled mightily at the plate by savvy pitchers," Pleskoff wrote. "While Manzardo has power, he hasn’t refined his hitting mechanics to the point of consistently offering solid plate appearances. But if the Guardians want to promote another left-handed hitter in either [Chase] DeLauter or [C.J.] Kayfus, it might be wise to send Manzardo to Triple-A Columbus for more seasoning."

Manzardo is slashing just .217/.289/.429 with 13 home runs and 33 RBI over 284 plate appearances on the year, and again, much of that production came early on.

The 25-year-old, who played his collegiate baseball at Washington State, was originally selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft and was acquired by Cleveland in a midseason trade that sent pitcher Aaron Civale to the Rays back in 2023.

Manzardo immediately became one of the top prospects in the Guardians' system and made his big-league debut last season, slashing .234/.282/.421 with five homers and 15 RBI across 156 trips to the dish. He showed significant promise late in the campaign, which had many excited to see the youngster in a full-time role in 2025.

Obviously, things have not worked out for Manzardo thus far, but such has been the case for Cleveland as a team in general this year.

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