3 Guardians players who can jump-start lineup and earn Silver Slugger respect in 2026

In case you haven’t heard, the Guardians' lineup was pretty bad in 2025. So bad, in fact, that they set the record for the worst team batting average by a playoff team (.220) while also having the second-worst slugging percentage (.373) of any playoff team.

While José Ramírez put together another award winning season and Steven Kwan had an All-Star first half, the Guardians’ success in 2025 was largely done in spite of their offense, not because of it. 

But that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. First off, things surely can’t be worse. Even if the Guardians don’t make any outside acquisitions to their lineup, they have some promising rookies who will add some much-needed thump across a 162-game season. 

But they also have some established major leaguers who seem poised to bounce-back after a rough 2025 showing. 

With this year’s Silver Slugger nominations on the top of our mind, here are five Guardians who could make some Silver Slugger noise in 2026. 

1B Kyle Manzardo 

Manzardo doesn’t really fall into either of the categories we’ve outlined above. He’s not a rookie anymore (2026 will be the third MLB season he’s seen playing time in), and he’s not necessarily a bounce-back candidate considering he hit 27 home runs in 2025. 

He is, however, an important part of the Guardians’ offense. After opening the season in a time-share with Carlos Santana, Manzardo was given the keys to first base after the All-Star break and ended up hitting .256 with 12 home runs. 

While this year’s first base nominees featured three big-time sluggers (Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Nick Kurtz and Vinnie Pasquantino), Manzardo has the power to reach their heights. A full year of playing time without needing to look over his shoulder should give him enough runway to vault into Silver Slugger territory. 

UTL Daniel Schneemann

Schneemann’s already netted a Gold Glove nomination as a utility player. Could he add a Silver Slugger nominee to that ledger next season? 

Schneemann has the pop needed to earn a Silver Slugger (12 home runs in 2025), he’ll just need to cut down on the strikeouts. He doesn’t get cheated at the plate when he makes contact, but he finished last year in the 18th percentile in whiff rate and the ninth percentile in strikeout rate. 

He’s also a bit streaky, as evidenced by him hitting .240 across the first two months of the season before hitting .189 from the start of June on. 

He’ll have no problem reaching the playing time threshold needed to qualify as a utility player (you need to play 100 games total and 20 at multiple positions), it’ll just be on him to find the offensive consistency needed to earn a Silver Slugger nomination. 

OF Steven Kwan 

Kwan’s career has been a tale of two halves at the plate; he’s a career .292 hitter in the first half of the season but just a .268 hitter in the second half. Whether it’s been due to injuries, fatigue or some combination of factors, Kwan’s never been able to put together the kind of second half that’s allowed him to earn Silver Slugger recognition. 

That could change in 2026 so long as he’s able to stay healthy. 

While Kwan was never placed on the injured list in 2025, he was clearly hampered by a wrist injury that required him to get an injection in July. While it’s always tough to predict injuries, Kwan’s elite bat-to-ball skills could push him to the front of the left field Silver Slugger race.