Daniel Schneemann teases offseason change that could lead more success in 2026

It hasn’t taken long for Daniel Schneemann to become a fan favorite in Cleveland. While he was never a top prospect during his time in the minors and didn’t have a ton of fans begging for him to get called up, he earned a big league call-up in June 2024 and went 9-for-24 in his first 10 games. 

He played an ever bigger role for the Guardians in 2025, as he appeared in a career-high 131 games while playing all over the diamond. But that utility didn’t translate to a ton of success in the batter’s box. Schneemann hit just .206 and finished 24% worse than league average by measure of OPS+. 

A big reason for that subpar production at the plate stemmed from his struggles with offspeed pitches, as he hit just .173 on breaking pitches and .182 on offspeed pitches. 

It was a frustrating flaw in his game that seemed to rear its head at the worst time in every game. But that could become a thing of the past in 2026. 

Daniel Schnemann spent offseason addressing problems that plagued him last year 

On Sunday, Cleveland.com’s Tony Carter published a story featuring an interview with Schneemann, who said that he spent the offseason working on his problems against secondary pitches. 

“I have to be better at hitting the off-speed,” Schneemann told Carter. “This offseason, I have been trying to find better ways to be good at hitting breaking pitches. The key for me is just trusting my preparation.”

The good news for Schneemann is that he has no problem hitting fastballs. Absolutely no problem, in fact. 

Last year Schneeman slugged .403 on heaters, which shows how hard it was to beat him with heat. The best example of that came at the beginning of May when Schneemann slugged a go-ahead grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays. The homer came on, you guessed it, a fastball. 

Schnemann has a clear spot on the roster thanks to his incredible defensive versatility that resulted in him finishing with eight Outs Above Average last season (95th percentile). But he also ended last season with a clear flaw in his game that he seems to be working to address. 

He should see most of his playing time on the middle infield thanks to the instability in Cleveland’s middle-infield picture, but he could also serve as a valuable outfield chess piece as rookies like Chase DeLauter and George Valera navigate their first full seasons in the bigs. 

Schneemann’s a valuable mix-and-match player for Vogt, and close to taking the next step that could help him become even more important for a team that loves players who can move all around the field.