Guardians outfield afterthought may be more important after Angel Martínez’s injury

For the moment the Guardians recalled Petey Halpin from Triple-A at the beginning of May, it’s been clear that he’s the 26th man on the Guardians active roster. 

He appeared in just 18 games over that time and racked up just 30 at-bats and posted a .167/.194/.394 in that time. Not exactly setting the world on fire.

But now Halpin could be forced into a bigger role thanks to Angel Martínez foot sprain. While the Guardians announced that Martínez is day-to-day with the injury, it’s fair to assume Cleveland could decide to give him some more days off as he works his way back from the injury. 

And, if that’s the case, Halpin could stand to benefit from the upstick in playing opportunities. 

Petey Halpin could be forced into seeing more playing time

Halpin got a rare start on Saturday (the same game Martínez left early with his injury), and responded by going 2-for-4 with his first double of the season. He’s gone 3-for-6 in his last four games (one of which was a late-game defensive replacement). 

Halpin’s clearly not an everyday player, but he may see a bit more playing time as opposed to primarily being a late-game substitution like how it’s been since he made his MLB debut late last season. 

Part of the reason why he’s at the top of the list is how much Stuart Fairchild struggled in his first weekend with the club. Fairchild went 0-for-5 at the plate with five strikeouts, blew a crucial challenge and recorded a throwing error for good measure. 

Kwan’s impending return is going to bump one of the outfielders off the active roster, and Halpin seemed like an obvious casualty given the fact that he still has some minor league options remaining, but he had arguably his best weekend with the Guardians while Fairchild had about as rough of a first impression as you can make. 

They both could have likely stayed on the roster had Martínez needed to go on the injured list, but the fact he’s being considered day-to-day means Cleveland is going to have to make some kind of decision. 

But Martínez being healthy is still a positive considering neither Fairchild or Halpin can provide Cleveland with the same kind of production Martínez is becoming known for. Not only has he slugged a team-leading nine home runs, but he’s also driven in 29 runs and just recorded one of the best outfield assists of the season. He’s been impacting the game in pretty much every way. 

The Guardians’ outfield situation is clearly in a better spot than it was last year thanks in large part to Martínez’s resurgent season. Should that injury linger, Halpin could end up becoming just as important to Cleveland’s success. 

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