Brewers, Reds September call-ups offer reminder of how far Guardians have come

On April 15, the Cleveland Guardians suffered a 5-3 defeat to the Cardinals in the final game of the series between the two teams at Busch Stadium. 

While there are plenty of differences between that April iteration of the Guardians compared to the version of the team that defeated the Blue Jays on Tuesday, two of the biggest differences came at the bottom of the lineup in the form of Juan Brito and Bo Naylor. 

Brito (who was in his first stint with the Guardians) went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts out of the No. 6 spot in the lineup while Naylor went 1-for-3 with a two-run double out of the No. 8 spot.

We didn’t know it at the time, but that game was one of the final times they shared a big league diamond, as the Guardians demoted Brito at the end of April while Naylor was sent down a couple weeks later. 

The Guardians doubled down on those promotions by trading both of them at the trade deadline, bringing about an end to both of their disappointing tenures with the Guardians. 

But now they’re both going to get a chance to turn their careers around with the new teams, as both Naylor (Brewers) and Brito (Reds) were added to their team’s respective rosters via the extra September roster spot. 

Juan Brito and Bo Naylor are back in the big leagues

Naylor’s call-up comes on the back of a productive minor league stint where he recorded a .903 OPS with four home runs on the back of a re-worked swing. 

Milwaukee’s trade for him always seemed like it was more about their future than present, and this month will give them their first chance to see what he can do at American Family Field. 

The Guardians have been the early winners of the trade thanks to Craig Yoho’s big league performance, but a strong month from Naylor would change that. 

Meanwhile, Brito made his Reds debut last night and went 0-for-3 with a late-game sacrifice fly that helped pad Cincinnati's lead in their win over the Padres.

Although Brito was once viewed as the future in the Guardians’ infield, his career got side-tracked by a variety of injuries and he ended up being the odd man out as Travis Bazzana and Angel Genao got closer to the big leagues. 

It’s kind of fitting that Brito made his (quiet) Reds debut on the same day Genao recorded his first signature moment with the Guardians. 

Even if Daniel Schneemann won’t see a lot of playing time as the Guardians’ September addition, he’s the perfect fit for that promotion since he can bounce around the diamond.

His promotion not being a big deal speaks to how much talent the Guardians currently have in their current lineup. Not every team can say that.

Even if Naylor and Brito have productive final months with their teams, the Guardians’ current roster picture shows there wouldn’t have been room for either of them in Cleveland.

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