6 Guardians hitters that are not helping themselves in Spring Training

2. Deyvison De Los Santos

The presence of Deyvison De Los Santos has always seemed a bit odd. A Rule 5 pick by the Cleveland Guardians, De Los Santos has never played about Double-A, and what he has done at that level was not really all that impressive. De Los Santos has .253/.300/.426 slash line with 21 home runs, 18 doubles, and 134 strikeouts in 123 games over two seasons. While the 20 home runs in Double-A last season are noteworthy, the Guardians decided that this was someone that they absolutely had to have in their organization for some reason despite the lack of a lengthy successful track record.

And that brings us to how De Los Santos is performing out in Arizona. De Los Santos has seven hits in 28 at-bats, with his lone extra-base hit (a home run) coming on Monday. While being able to put bat to ball and register any type of hit is encouraging for someone who is just 20 years old, this is a team that needs power in the worst way possible, and this is where a problem arises. Under normal circumstances, a team could just option someone like De Los Santos, allowing him to get more experience in the minors.

The issue is that since De Los Santos is a Rule 5 pick, he must remain on the active roster for the entire season if they wish to keep him in the organization. This puts the Guardians in a tough position. They cannot afford to have De Los Santos occupy a roster spot when he does not appear anywhere close to being ready, and they need offense. They also cannot let him sit and rot on the bench without getting regular at-bats.

Perhaps a different time, place, and circumstances could result in something different, but it is hard to justify De Los Santos making the big league club at this current moment.