Kyle Manzardo homers twice in Guardians return

As part of MLB's expanded rosters that come with the month of September, the Cleveland Guardians brought first baseman Kyle Manzardo back to the majors. Manzardo's return to the bigs took a little bit longer than it probably should have, but he made sure to make up for it with his day at the plate.

The Guardians held a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 4th Manzardo would come up to the plate and proceeded to promptly deposit the 0-1 pitch from Mitch Keller over the right field fence for his first career major league home run.

Hitting his first home run was not enough, as Manzardo would homer again in the bottom of the 6th, giving him his first career multi-home run game while extending Cleveland's lead to four.

To say Manzardo's return was a triumphant one would be an understatement. It was a rough go of things for Manzardo during his first stint with the Guardians, struggling to do much at the plate with his only extra-base hits being doubles. Cleveland was hoping that Manzardo would be able to provide a bit more than he was able to, resulting in him being sent back down to Triple-A to work on a few things. Given how things went on Sunday, it is pretty safe to say his return to Columbus was a success.

Manzardo's experience is not unique to him. Plenty of players have struggled during their first time in the bigs, resulting in being sent back to the minors until they are deemed ready to return. Going back to the minors after being exposed to major league pitching allows a player to properly adjust their approach, and that can lead to better success upon their return. It has only been one game since returning from Columbus, but Manzardo looks more comfortable at the plate than he did earlier this season, and that could be a good sign for his future as an impact bat in the middle of Cleveland's lineup.