Guardians Baseball Insider

GREENS PITCHERS (PROJECTIONS PER FanGraphs)

Luis Castillo (1st-3rd innings): MLB ace
Cionel Perez (4th and started 5th inning): Triple-A starter
Graham Ashcraft (finished 5th inning): High-A starter
Sal Romano (6th inning): MLB middle reliever
Josh Osich (7th inning): Triple-A reliever
Art Warren (8th inning): Triple-A reliever
Jesse Biddle (9th inning): Triple-A reliever

STARTERS – POSITION BATTLES

Jake Bauers (1B): 0-2, 1 BB, 2 K – Bauers’ best argument for winning the first base job over Bradley continues to be his lack of options.

Andres Gimenez (SS): 0-2, 1 RBI, 1 HBP – Gimenez’s fifth-inning hit by pitch drove in a run, but also provided a scary moment as it briefly appeared he might be injured (he isn’t).

RESERVES

Jose Fermin (2B): 0-3, 1 K – Fermin is hitless in four at-bats this spring.

Steven Kwan (LF): 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI – Kwan, who has struggled in Arizona against 5.8 (between Double-A and High-A) pitching, broke out of his mini-slump with a two-RBI double off of Triple-A projecteee Osich in the seventh.

Tyler Krieger (PR-3B): 0-1, 1 R, 2 BB – Krieger tripled his preseason walk total with a pair on Wednesday night.

Richard Palacios (PH-DH): 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K – Palacios made the most of his first major league spring training plate appearance by lining a double into center field in the sixth. He followed that up with another liner, this time to left, for an RBI single an inning later.

Will Benson (PR-RF): 0-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K – Benson, who had a 1.214 OPS against 5.3 pitching through Tuesday, scored as a pinch runner on the Gimenez HBP.

Beau Taylor (C): 1-2, 1 R, 1 2B – Taylor’s leadoff double in the seventh was his first hit in nine spring plate appearances, but his performance last night will likely be more remembered for him misjudging a foul ball in the eighth that, if caught, would have ended the inning.

Brayan Rocchio (PR-SS): 0-1, 2 R, 1 BB – Rocchio finally saw the plate in his fourth game of the spring and scored a pair of runs. All of this pales in comparison, however, to his clean game in the field following his two-error Tuesday.

Connor Marabell (PR-LF): 1-1, 1 R, 1 RBI – Marabell scored as a pinch runner in the seventh and then hit an RBI single to left an inning later. The RBI was his fourth in 13 plate appearances this spring (4.6 QoO [Single-A] entering yesterday).

PITCHERS

Anthony Gose: 0 IP, 3 H, 6 R (all earned), 3 BB – While it is not surprising that Gose’s nearly flawless spring would eventually end in a rough outing, I don;t think anyone expected the pendulum to swing this far.

Kirk McCarty: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 1 K – McCarty succeeded in limiting the damage from Gose’s outing in his first full inning of the spring.

Kyle Nelson: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 1 K – Nelson got to start his own inning rather than serve in a mop-up role for the first time since March 6th against the White Sox.