Guardians fan frustration boiling over as key player out of lineup yet again

Last postseason, Kyle Manzardo announced himself on the national stage in resounding fashion with a towering home run against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

It was the exact kind of thing the Guardians’ front office dreamed about when they traded for Manzardo at the deadline in 2023. And he followed that up with a dream start to 2024 by finishing a single away from the cycle on Opening Day and mashed eight home runs over his first 26 games. 

But it’s been crickets since. He’s only hit one home run across his last 19 games, and has only recorded 16 at-bats since the calendar turned to June. 

O Kyle, Kyle. Wherefore art thou Kyle?

And of course - of course - with Nick Lodolo on the mound Wednesday, guess who's once again glued to the pine and out of the lineup?

Guardians fan frustration boiling up over key player losing opportunities

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has famously said that he “hates” the word platoon, yet here we are. It was clear from the start of the season that Manzardo was in a platoon at first base with Carlos Santana, but that platoon has seemingly gone by the wayside as of late — and Guardians fans seem to have had enough of it.

Manzardo’s puzzling usage is only part of the equation, however. In the offseason, the Guardians made it seem like Manzardo was the first baseman of the future when they traded Josh Naylor (who is making $10.9 million and is set to be a free agent after the season) to the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

What looked like a deal made to save money ended up becoming a bit of a head-scratcher. 

But then they went and signed Carlos Santana to a one-year $12 million contract to also man first base, meaning that Manzardo was once again in a timeshare. And while Santana has been excellent this year, it’s also come at a detriment to Manzardo’s development. 

The Guardians didn’t trade for him (and essentially punt on the 2023 season) for him to not one day be the first baseman of the future. His path to at-bats also got more difficult recently thanks to the reinstatement of David Fry, who can only play designated hitter.

The Guardians have made plenty of moves in the past with financials in mind, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if they had gotten rid of Naylor purely for the financial savings. But if they were going to spend that money anyway, why not do it in a way that allowed for them to build up another area of their roster where they don’t already have an MLB-quality player?

Guardians first baseman have combined for a 106 wRC+ this year, which is right around league average. While that production isn’t as bad as some of the other positions on the roster, it’s league average, and not the kind of production worthy of sacrificing Kyle Manzardo’s development.