3 Guardians who will need to step up thanks to Gabriel Arias’ injury

On Wednesday, Gabriel Arias missed a third straight game due to his wrist injury that flared back up after  a swing in Monday’s game against the Royals. 

Arias initially injured his wrist when he was hit on the wrist by a pitch against the Mariners on Aug. 29, and missed four games before going back into the Guardians’ lineup. 

On Wednesday, manager Stephen Vogt said that Arias will be able to play through the issue, though it’s going to require some pain management. Arias was a lineup mainstay when healthy, so his lack of being of consistent presence in the lineup means the Guardians are going to need more from some other players in the lineup. 

These three Guardians need to pick up the slack now that Gabriel Arias is injured

Brayan Rocchio

Rocchio’s handled shortstop the past two days while Arias works through his injury, and he’s due to get the lion’s share of time at short in any game that Arias misses becomes something more serious. 

He’s hitting .276 in 63 games since getting recalled from Triple-A at the beginning of July, and has handled his translation to second base smoothly (even if he’s been worth -3 Defensive Runs Saved there). 

Rocchio’s gone from major league afterthought to looking like a\ legitimate piece for next season, and he’ll have a chance to build on that momentum with everyday playing time at a cornerstone position. He doesn’t have the same kind of physical tools as Arias, but he’s been the more consistent player across the past month. 

He’s still been at the bottom of the order (he hit at the No. 7 spot in the order on Tuesday and the No. 8 spot on Wednesday), but that didn’t stop him from being productive earlier in the year. 

That should carry over to any time he has to play with Arias out.

Angel Martínez

Although Martínez has morphed into a full-time outfielder for Vogt and the Guardians, he might turn into more of a utility bat given Arias’ injury. He came up as an infielder (and has made 36 appearances at second base this year), and has been worth -7 Defensive Runs Saved as an outfielder this year, so getting hime more playing time on the infield more may not be the worst thing in the world. 

Martínez has an interesting profile that has reminded some of a younger José Ramírez, but he’s only hit .225 this year and is in the fourth percentile in chase rate. 

He was already going to get plenty of playing time even more Arias’ injury, but the Guardians are going to need more from him as Arias manages his injury. 

Daniel Schneemann

Schneemann’s played all over the diamond this year for the Guardians, but he hasn’t played at shortstop since he was a late-game substitute at the position at the beginning of July.

But, if Arias is forced to miss a significant amount of time then Schneemann will probably handle a bit more time at shortstop along with handling his duties at second base. 

Though Schneemann’s hit just .219 since the start of July, he’s one of baseball’s best utility infielders (7 Outs Above Average) and he just had a three-hit game against the Royals on Monday. 

The Guardians also could use Martínez as an option at second base, but all but four of his appearances have come in center field since the start of August. 

Schneemann’s super utility ability has already earned him kudos this year, but it might be even more important right now given Arias’ injury.