Will Brennan has found his groove at the plate

The Cleveland Guardians outfield was in a state of relative disarray to start the year. Myles Straw and Oscar Gonzalez struggled to put up anything resembling respectable numbers at the plate, leaving only Steven Kwan as the only Guardians outfielder to look competent while at the plate. Then came Will Brennan.

Brennan has played in the majority of games this season, only missing a few here and there, but did not start clicking at the plate until recently. Going back to May 16, which predates the bird incident by a week, Brennan is slashing .382/.414/.564 with four doubles, two home runs, and six RBI. That amounts to a 174 wRC+ over a span of 58 plate appearances (18 games) per Fangraphs. Brennan has six mult-hit games over that span, including two three-hit performances and is currently on a seven-game hit streak. Prior to this run, Brennan was slashing only .193/.236/.277 in 40 games (89 plate appeances) with four doubles and one home run to go with a lowly 40 wRC+.

This is exactly the type of production this Guardians team needs at the plate. The team has mostly struggled outside of a few players, but seeing players not named Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, or Josh Naylor contribute in a meaningful manner is certainly a step in the right direction. Brennan taking that next step in his development and becoming a productive bat is huge for the Guardians.

If Cleveland is going to make a run and remain in the division race, Brennan will have to continue playing a part of that. It cannot be all on the shoulders of Ramirez, Kwan, and Naylor. Someone else has to step it up and considering that two players who are potential trade candidates are not pulling thier weight, it will be up to Birdman Brennan to pick up the slack to provide some length to a Guardians lineup that desperately needs it.