David Fry tabbed as Guardians top bounceback candidate after injury-plagued season

The new year is almost here, which means it’s time to start thinking about how things could go in 2026. 

Maybe that means you want to run more. Or read more books. Maybe learn a new hobby or apply yourself more at work. 

But, in the case of the Guardians’ front office, the No. 1 goal for 2026 should be upgrading the team’s lineup. And, as of now, it looked like the biggest upgrades will have to come internally given the team’s lone external offensive acquisitions have been re-signing Austin Hedges and signing Stuart Fairchild to a minor league contract. 

And perhaps the easiest way the Guardians could get more from their offense is by getting more out of David Fry, who was a breakout star in 2024 but hit just .171 in 66 games last season. 

Last weekend, MLB.com's team of beat writers put out a story highlighting the biggest bounceback canidate on each team's roster, where Tim Stebbins highlighted Fry as the Guardians' candidate.

Even though Fry’s season ended on a sour note when he was hit in the face by a fastball from Tarik Skubal, he’s more than a year away from the Tommy John surgery that limited him in 2025, which means that there’s a good chance that we could see Fry get back to looking like the player that was named an All-Star in 2024. 

David Fry picked to have a big season for the Guardians in 2026

Fry’s 2025 season was DOA thanks to that aforementioned Tommy John surgery, which Fry underwent in November 2024 due to pain in his elbow that limited him in the second half of that season. 

After moving around the diamond in the first part of the season, Fry only played in the field 14 times after June 24 — a period in which he hit just .221 in 67 games. 

Fry didn’t return to the diamond in 2025 until the start of June, and struggled so much that his batting average bottomed out at .130 through his first 30 games of the season.

He finished the year with a .213 batting average in 12 games in September before his season ended thanks to Skubal’s misplaced fastball that got Fry square in the face. 

He underwent successful nasal surgery and is expected to be healthy for the start of 2026. 

It’s not hard to see how a healthy Fry would help the Guardians, who hit just .226 as a team last year and got a .219 combined batting average from their designated hitters. 

The Guardians already removed one right-handed hitter from their designated hitter equation by designating Jhonkensy Noel for assignment, which means there’s even more pressure on Fry to produce. 

Fry is now one of only three right-handed hitters on the Guardians’ 40-man roster alongside Johnathan Rodríguez (who is the only right-handed hitting outfielder on the roster) and infielder Gabriel Arias.

Last season the Guardians made the postseason despite not getting much out of their historic platoon advantage but Fry can move around the lineup and diamond. 

Even though Cleveland’s lack of lineup additions has been frustrating this offseason, Fry getting further and further away from Tommy John surgery is a reminder of how good he could be for the Guardians next season.