Guardians make roster move to boost slumping offense

After scoring one run in their final 18 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend, the Cleveland Guardians are adding some firepower to their offense.

The team recalled outfielder Will Brennan from Triple-A Columbus on Monday, sending the struggling shortstop Brayan Rocchio down as a corresponding move.

Brennan is hitting .304 with eight doubles and three home runs so far for Columbus and is striking out just 12.8% of the time. Rocchio, meanwhile, is hitting only .165 and does not have a home run in 95 at bats with the big league club. That gives him a woeful OPS+ of 26 to go with his 20.6% strikeout rate.

As a team, the Guardians are hitting .234, good for 22nd in the Majors. They also rank 22nd in team on-base percentage (.306) and are 18th in OPS (.668).

This will be Brennan’s first stint in the Majors this season. He has appeared in Major League games for the Guardians each of the last three years, however, spending much of the last two seasons in Cleveland and providing an average bat to the lineup. He hit .264 in 114 games last year, hitting eight home runs and compiling a 98 OPS+.

Brennan was a contender to make the team out of spring training but when Cleveland traded for Nolan Jones shortly before the season started, there wasn’t room for him on the roster.

“It’s tough,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said at the time, via Jack Vita of MLB.com. “Will took it like a pro, like he always does. Doesn’t mean it was easy. So, obviously, we know what Will can do, and we know he’s going to help us win games at some point this year, it’s just not going to be on Opening Day. There [are] things that we can always be improving upon and he knows what those are, but Will Brennan is a Major League outfielder, and unfortunately, he’s going to go to Triple-A.”

Brennan is in the lineup, batting ninth and playing right field for the Guardians Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. ET.