Guardians outfielder swings his way into WBC lore with majestic grand slam 

That’s one way for Stuart Fairchild to make an impression. 

While Fairchild’s on the Guardians’ roster bubble this spring, he still elected to play for Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic instead of spending the entire spring in camp with the Guardians. 

His decision looks a little better after Friday, as Fairchild slugged a 389 foot grand slam in Chinese Taipei’s 14-0 win over Czechia in Pool Play. 

Stuart Fairchild helped his case to make Guardians roster with WBC grand slam 

Although things hadn’t gone great for Fairchild and his Chinese Taipei teammates in their first two games of the WBC, Fairchild erased most of that with his second inning homer that extended his country’s lead to 6-0. 

His homer came on a changeup that Czechia starter Jan Novak left over the plate. Although Fairchild’s clearly been seeing the ball well (as evidenced by the number of near home runs he hit during the first two games of the tournament), he finally had an at-bat where he put it all together. 

Even though Fairchild’s blast didn’t come against MLB competition, it still obviously helps his case to make the Guardians' big league roster. 

He’s currently in camp as a non-roster invitee, so the Guardians would need to add him to both their 40-man and 26-man rosters should they choose to add him to their lineup. 

Luckily for Fairchild, almost all of the Guardians’ main options in the outfield hit left-handed, so he’d provide some much-needed balance to Cleveland’s outfield picture. 

Johnathan Rodríguez is currently the only right-handed hitting outfielder on Cleveland’s roster, but he’s hit just .176 across his MLB career and has gone just 3-for-14 this spring. 

No one’s expecting Fairchild to hit a grand slam every time he takes the plate (he’s never hit a grand slam in his MLB career), but he has a solid skillset that could make him a successful outfielder for the Guardians. 

Along with having solid chase and whiff numbers, he finished last season in the 86th percentile in sprint speed and can play all three outfield positions. 

It’s the kind of skillset that got Myles Straw paid, and it could help Fairchild make the Guardians’ roster this season. 

The bad news for Fairchild is that it seems like his team’s stint in the WBC won’t last long, as they’re looking up at undefeated Australia and Tokyo in their pool. Plus Australia already has the tiebreaker over Chinese Taipei thanks to their win over them in the WBC opener. 

But regardless of how Chinese Taipei’s journey through the WBC ends, Fairchild recorded his signature moment.