How should the Cleveland Guardians deploy Jhonkensy Noel in 2025?

The 2024 season saw the debut of slugger Jhonkensy Noel after a few years of waiting his turn in the minors. Big Christmas was able to contribute in his first season in the bigs, hitting 13 home runs and seven doubles while driving in 28 runs in 67 games. But now, the Guardians must figure out how they are going to utilize the 23-year-old next season, as the path to playing time is not that clear.

Cleveland's outfield is a crowded, jumbled mess, that outside of Steven Kwan, does not have a player anyone should feel comfortable with penciling in as a regular. Noel could see time in right field but it is probably best to keep his innings in the outfield to a minimum.

The next logical position(s) he could see time at are first base and designated hitter, but those will be spoken for on most days by the likes of Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Santana. Re-signing Santana came in the minutes following Cleveland's decision to trade Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks, making what did appear to be a clear path to playing time at first and DH close rather abruptly.

With both avenues to playing time being somewhat blocked (barring any sort of injury, of course), the best path forward for Noel and the Guardians is to use him strategically and deploy him when necessary rather than being a full-time player. This could be a way for Cleveland to get the most out of his bat (and others) while limiting his exposure as an everyday player.

This is about maximizing Noel's production

Yes, Noel was able to put on a power display in his limited time in the majors last season, but there are still some major red flags about his offensive profile to be concerned with. Noel slashed .218/.288/.486 last season with a 31.8% strikeout and 6.6% walk rate.

While people try to compare him to Kyle Schwarber, that just is not the case. Schwarber does strike out nearly as much (28.5% for his career) but walks 15.3% of the time, which makes his high strikeout frequency a lot more palatable. It would be different if Noel had better plate discipline and was able to get on base at a higher clip, unfortunately, that is just now who he is as a hitter and it is unlikely he never will be.

Considering Noel is much more successful against left-handed pitching than right-handed (.246/.302/.667 slash line with seven home runs and three doubles in 63 plate appearances vs. .205/.282/.402 slash line with six home runs and four doubles in 135 plate appearances), it may be best to use Noel against left-handed pitching almost exclusively. Noel is much more effective against left-handed pitching, and that must be accounted for when putting together lineups on any given day.

There will be a temptation to use him more frequently because of the raw power he possesses, and in time, he might be able to be an everyday player, but for now, it is best to use him off the bench and in specific situations that favor his hitting profile, such as pinch hit opportunites or when the Guardians face a lefty starter. Taking this approach will allow Noel to be put in positions to succeed more often than not rather than the opposite, which is almost guaranteed to take place if he were to be an everyday fixture in the lineup. This should prevent him from becoming over-exposed and ran out of the majors while allowing him to develop his hitting attributes to maybe, one day, being a full-time player.