Shortstop might be a problem for the Cleveland Guardians in 2025

When it comes to positions of strength for the Cleveland Guardians, shortstop is not among them. The Guardians have mostly gotten by at the position since trading Francisco Lindor to the New York Mets in early 2021, as those who have seen time at shortstop being merely placeholders until a superior option becomes available to them. With that in mind, it is no surprise to see the current shortstops on Cleveland's roster not being viewed particularly highly.

In Ranking Every MLB Team's Starting Shortstop for the 2025 Season from Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter, Brayan Rocchio comes in as number 28 out of 30. It was Rocchio's lackluster offensive numbers that were a major contributor to being ranked third from the bottom in Reuter's eyes, "Rocchio did not provide much offensively as a rookie, hitting .206/.298/.316 with 26 extra-base hits in 442 plate appearances, but he was a Gold Glove finalist and started 121 of 162 games at shortstop.".

This level of offense is only palatable with good defense, but that can only do so much, as evidenced by his ranking. Any slip in defensive performance will take a situation that Cleveland can stomach and turn it into one that is dire, and that just cannot happen. At some point, that bat is going to have to catch up to the defense, or else Rocchio could end up in a similar situation as Andres Gimenez was this past offseason, just without the large contract.

Reuter does make sure to note that Rocchio has been a better offensive player in the minors, with a .276/.349/.426 with 110 doubles, 47 home runs, and 19 triples in 485 games. Rocchio just turned 24 years old and could begin to produce offensive numbers close to his minor league track record, and if so, would go a long way toward the Guardians being a good offensive team in 2025.

As part of this list of shortstops, Reuter also includes a Next Man Up, and Cleveland's is someone who is running out of chances, Gabriel Arias. Currently, Arias is in the running for the Guardians' starting second base position, and any time he would see at short would come to either Rocchio playing poorly or going down with some sort of injury. The reality of Arias' inclusion is that there has to be a secondary option and there is not anyone else worthy of consideration.

Ideally, Rocchio performs significantly better at the plate this season, resulting in the Guardians not having to consider any other option to start at short. If Cleveland can go from having the shortstop position being one of the least productive in 2025 (Rocchio's 76 OPS+ was the second-lowest for Guardians regulars in 2024) to being somewhere in the realm of average (100 is average by OPS+ standards), it would be a big-time difference-maker and could very well change their trajectory in 2025 for the better.