Jhonkensy Noel deserves more playing time down the stretch

At a time when the Cleveland Guardians were struggling, it is quite fitting that a man with the nickname of Big Christmas was able to provide the gift of offensive output. Jhonkensy Noel was able to come through twice in Monday's 9-8 win over the Chicago Cubs, slugging two home runs and providing nearly half of Cleveland's scoring, driving in four runs. This was Noel's first major league game with multiple home runs, and his production was a huge factor in the outcome of the game. It is performances like this that show he is deserving of more playing time.

Over his last nine games, Noel has three home runs and eight runs driven in while slashing .333/.385/.708 with an OPS of 1.093. Clearly, this is a very small sample size, and it is not truly indicative of his hitting profile, but it is incredibly difficult to argue against playing someone while they are hot at the plate, and that is what Noel is at this time.

Sure, there is a very good chance that this is just a streak of games where Noel has been successful, and as the saying goes, what goes up must come down, but while it is going up, why not play him more? The Guardians have not exactly been tearing the cover off the ball lately, so any type of boost that can be provided to their offense would be welcome.

What this comes down to is evaluating what they have been getting, or not been getting, out of some of their other options at this time. Noel is proving capable of hitting major league pitching and has shown the ability to hit for power, a trait that not everyone on Cleveland's bench has. Instead of trotting out the same group of players who are scuffling, it would be in the best interest of the Guardians to play Noel right now to see if this is just a hot streak or if he is truly developing into an everyday player.