Struggles of Cleveland Guardians shortstop is disappointing early season development

Of the positions that most were concerned about coming into the season for the Cleveland Guardians, shortstop was not anywhere near the top of the list. Starting rotation, outfield, second base, and first base were obvious areas to be concerned with, but shortstop was supposed to be relatively set with Brayan Rocchio. Just over a month into the season, the shortstop position in Cleveland does not look remotely close to being settled.

Rocchio has been a complete non-factor at the plate this season, slashing .183/.258/.220 with three doubles is not exactly what the Guardians were hoping for. Rocchio's OPS+ of 40 is the third-lowest of Guardians players who have appeared in 10 games or more, further highlighting how unimpactful he has been at the plate.

Not helping matters is the fact that Rocchio has struck out 19 times compared to only five walks. If Rocchio was at least reaching base via a walk, that would help make up for his subpar slash line, but his 5.4% walk rate is just over 3% lower than his career average (8.5%) and 4.6% lower than last season's (10%).

Now, expecting Rocchio to continue his performance from the 2024 postseason and carrying it over into the 2025 season may have been a bit ambitious for anyone thinking that was possible. The 11-33 with two doubles and a home run was a welcome surprise during last year's playoff run, but it was clearly not a sample size upon which expectations should be based.

If a player is experiencing difficulty generating offense, they can usually stay in the lineup by playing standout defense, but that is not the case with Rocchio at this time. Rocchio's six errors are currently the most in the American League and were the most in all of baseball just a few days ago. A few missteps are usually tolerated, especially when a player is slumping at the plate, but the combination of having zero impact with a bat in his hand alongside making mistakes in the field is the description of a player that should not be receiving regular playing time.

The Guardians do not have to make a roster decision anytime soon here, but if Rocchio is not able to right the ship, it could change things. Both Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann have been better than Rocchio in the early parts of this season, with the latter looking like he is capable of being an everyday player with his recent performance. Cleveland could slot Schneemann in at second while having Arias slide over to shortstop with Rocchio heading to the bench should he not improve.

Rocchio still has a chance to avoid this and prove he can be Cleveland's everyday shortstop, but he has a lot of work to do and very little time to do so. It sure seems like the odds are against him here, but maybe he can surprise everyone yet again and more closely resemble the player who looked primed to take a major step forward this year.