Familiar 2016 AL Champion Guardians outfielder making Cleveland comeback as pitcher

The Cleveland Guardians have brought someone into their organization that they are actually quite familiar with, having signed former outfielder Tyler Naquin to a minor league contract. Do not expect to see him in the outfield or with a bat in his hand any time soon because the Guardians have signed him as a right-handed pitcher.

Naquin has already arrived at the Guardians' spring training complex in Goodyear, Arizona, to begin working on his conversion to a pitcher. This is going to be quite the undertaking for the Guardians, as Naquin has exclusively played in the outfield during his major league and collegiate careers, having made over 1,000 appearances during that time.

This is not the first time that the Guardians have been involved in a player transitioning from the outfield to the pitcher's mound. It was not that long ago that Cleveland went down this exact same path with Anthony Gose. The former Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers outfielder would go on to make 31 appearances for the Guardians, pitching to a 4.78 ERA, 1.344 WHIP, and 11.5 K/9 over 32 innings of work.

Getting anything remotely close from Naquin, if he were to ever make a major league appearance as a pitcher, would be incredibly impressive and should be considered somewhat of a bonus, all things considered. Gose began his conversion to pitcher in his age 26 season, while Naquin will turn 34 years old in 2025. The learning curve here is steeper and could prevent Naquin from making the type of progress necessary to continue this experiment.

The Texas A & M product is probably best known for his contributions back in 2016 during Cleveland's run to the World Series. The current 33-year-old burst onto the scene with a 128 OPS+ thanks to a .296/.372/.514 slash line with 18 doubles, 14 home runs, and four triples en route to a third-place American League Rookie of the Year finish.

Naquin struggled to live up to the high expectations his first major league season produced, due in part to struggles at the plate and a series of injuries which would ultimately result in being non-tendered by Cleveland before signing with the Reds for the 2021 season. It was a comeback of sorts for Naquin in Cincinnati as he slashed .270/.333/.477 with career highs in doubles (24), home runs (19), and RBI (70). This was the last season that Naquin would post an above-average OPS+, as his results with the Reds, New York Mets, and Chicago White Sox in 2022 and 2023 ultimately resulted in his position change attempt in Cleveland.