Has Brayan Rocchio started to figure it out for the Cleveland Guardians?

The Guardians’ game yesterday seemed like the classic kind of momentum-killing game. After picking up a win on Monday to break their losing streak, they were staring down the barrel of going against Hunter Brown, who entered Wednesday’s start leading the American League with a 1.82 ERA. 

And then he met Brayan Rocchio. 

After being demoted earlier in the year and struggling for most of his regular season career, Rocchio put together what might be the best game of his career, highlighted by a solo home run from Rocchio in the fourth inning.

In total, the Guardians tagged Brown for a season-high six runs, which is a great sign even if a bullpen implosion meant that the Guardians needed an Ángel Martínez extra inning grand slam to salvage a victory. 

Has Brayan Rocchio started to figure it out for the Cleveland Guardians? 

After starting the season with Cleveland, Rocchio was sent down to Triple-A at the end of May after he posted a .165/.235/.198 slashline through 35 games. 

And he spent most of the season down there before being promoted at the beginning of July after Gabriel Arias suffered a high-ankle sprain. 

Rocchio has made the most of that opportunity so far, as he’s hitting .333 (6-for-18) with one home run, three RBI and three doubles in eight games since being promoted. 

On the team’s radio broadcast last night, Tom Hamiltion said that the team told Rocchio to use his time in Columbus to get back to finding the line drive swing that had helped him climb the team’s prospect ranks early in his career. 

That thinking seems to have stuck, as both his home run and double on Tuesday came on clean, short swings through the middle of the zone. For most of the year, Rocchio looked like he was trying to hit a six-run home run with every swing. 

Now it looks like he’s back to taking what the pitcher gives him, which is a great approach for any hitter, let alone your No. 9 hitter. 

It is worth noting that he’s still far from being a complete hitter at the plate. He started his newest stint with the Guardians 1-for-7 at the plate, and he can still lose his focus on occasion. But there’s also no denying the impact he’s had on Cleveland’s past two wins. 

On Monday, he went 1-for-2 at the plate with a two-run double and two sacrifice bunts, which is the kind of production the Guardians would kill for out of him. A day like Tuesday is a bit of a bonus.

Last postseason, Rocchio put on a show on Cleveland’s march to the American League Championship Series, which makes his struggles at the beginning of the season even more deflating.

If the past 48 hours are any indication, it looks like he might have put that in the past.