Daniel Schneemann deserves regular playing time for the Cleveland Guardians

Every once in a while, an overlooked player who is much older than most of his minor league counterparts gets his chance to play in the big leagues and is able to make an impact that no one saw coming. Right now, that player is Daniel Schneemann.

A career-minor leaguer before this season, Schneemann had been mostly forgettable before this spring. Some adjustments to his swing and approach resulted in the 27-year-old becoming someone to keep tabs on in case his improved performance was not just a product of the environment in Arizona.

In 10 games (29 at-bats), Schneemann has nine hits, four of which have gone for extra bases, including his first career major league home run in Sunday's loss to Toronto. This is a higher level of production than better than anyone could have imagined, and it is becoming very clear that he is someone who deserves more playing time as the season progresses.

Yes, it must be mentioned that this is a very small sample size and that his current .375/.483/.667 slash line is very much unsustainable. However, it must also be said that Schneemann was able to carry over his Sprint Training performance into the regular season with the Columbus Clippers, hitting 15 doubles, 10 home runs, and driving in 39 runs in 53 games while slashing .294/.428/.556 in Triple-A.

There is just something about Schneemann when he steps up to the plate that it seems like he is going to have a productive at-bat one way or the other. This is something that has not applied to either Gabriel Arias or Brayan Rocchio this season, as both have notably struggled from an offensive standpoint. Giving Schneemann an extended look at shortstop and moving him around as needed around the diamond to give someone a day off while giving Rocchio and/or Arias time at shortstop.

Even if Schneemann does not have a set position and ends up being a super-utility man for the Guardians, he is still someone who is incredibly valuable to have on their roster. Having that type of flexibility will allow the organization to make trades accordingly to round out their roster for a playoff run.