Guardians infielder can’t be overlooked in offseason plans after big game vs Tigers

The Guardians’ 7-5 win over the Tigers on Tuesday was the ultimate ‘Gabriel Arias game.’ He started things out in the second inning when he let loose a perfect 92.6 mile per hour relay throw to cut down Andy Ibáñez at home. 

Then in the fourth inning he gave the Guardians the lead with a casual 412-foot opposite field home run that left his bat at 110 miles per hour. 

And lastly he added on in the tenth inning with a back-breaking bloop single that extended the Guardians’ all-important lead in extra innings. 

While Arias still has some huge holes in his game that can be extremely frustrating, performances like Wednesday show why he’s too talented for the Guardians to quit on him just yet. 

Gabriel Arias’ strong showing on Tuesday showed how important he is to the Guardians 

From the minute Gabriel Arias broke into the major leagues, he’s shown flashes of how good of a major leaguer he can be. 

His home runs can be tape measure shots.  He’s ranked in the 90th percentile in arm strength or better in every full season he’s played in and moved around the diamond on defense and handled everything.

But his red flags have also been hard to ignore. He’s ranked in the bottom percentile in whiff rate in every season, and his exit velocity numbers aren’t what you’d expect from someone with the amount of swing-and-miss that he has. 

In total, Arias is now slashing .225/.280/.370 this year with 11 home runs and 50 RBI, numbers that are good for an OPS+ of 78.

A big reason for Arias' OPS+ being under 100 is due to Arias’ streakiness. He’s had three months this season where he’s hit .250 or better (including September), but he’s also had three months where he’s hit .220 or worse. 

His season has been defined by extremes. It’s not perfect, but games like Tuesday show why it’s important for them to ride the wave. He’s also been great on defense, as he’s been worth six Outs Above Average at shortstop.

That’s especially true when considering what the offseason could look like. The Guardians have a glut of major league-ready infielders, which means they’re going to need to make some kind of decision in regard to what to do with them. 

At the beginning of the season it looked like Brayan Rocchio was set to be the odd man out, but he’s turned things around since moving to second base. Daniel Schnemann has provided great defense at every position he’s played this year, but he’s hit just .198 since the start of August. 

And if that wasn’t enough, the Guardians also have Travis Bazzana and Juan Brito waiting in the wings in the minor leagues. They’re going to need to make some kind of decision about what to do with all of those players, but Arias is worth holding on to.