These three under-the-radar players are fueling the Guardians' resurgence

While the Guardians’ sweep at the hands of the Braves over the weekend sucked a lot of wind out of the team’s sales, they’re still right in the thick of the postseason race thanks to some strong play from players up and down their roster. 

Here are three unheralded Guardians who have helped with that postseason push. 

These three under-the-radar players are fueling the Guardians' resurgence

LHP Erik Sabrowski
0-0, 1.02 ERA, 24 K in 17 2/3 innings

Sabrowski didn’t break camp with the Guardians due to a left elbow inflammation, but he’s wasted no time making an impression since re-joining the team’s roster. 

Sabrowski now has a 1.02 ERA across 17 2/3 innings since he returned at the end of June, which is the 12th-best ERA in that time among relief pitchers who have thrown at least 10 innings. 

It’s a continuation of his dominant 2024 season where he posted 12 scoreless innings in the regular season before allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings in the postseason. 

In total, he’s allowed just three earned runs across the first 35 innings of his major league career. There’s elite, and then there’s what Sabrowski’s doing. He’s only allowed one hit on his fastball all season, and has a 35.3% strikeout rate, which would be in the top percentile if he had enough innings to qualify for the Baseball Savant leaderboards. 

He showed his wipeout stuff on Monday when he put out a fire in the sixth inning as the first reliever out of the bullpen, which helped set up a shutout performance from Cleveland's pen. 

INF Brayan Rocchio
.237/.289/.348, 3 HR, 31 RBI

Speaking of strong performances from Monday, Rocchio added to his strong second half with a big two-run home run off Arizona starter Zac Gallen that helped pad Cleveland’s lead in the eventual win. It was his second homer in the last three games, and was another example of how strong his second half has been. 

Rocchio’s now hitting .296 in the second half with a team-leading 19 RBI, and has hit .315 with two home runs, nine RBI and four steals in August. And, if that wasn’t enough, he’s also playing  second base for the first time in his big league career. 

The start to Rocchio’s season was so bad that the Guardians demoted him to Triple-A in May, but he’s looked like a different player since being promoted at the beginning of July. He’s never going to be a power hitter, but his recent surge is a great sign and has provided some much needed production from the bottom of the Guardians’ order. 

UT Daniel Schneemann
.225/.309/.386, 10 HR, 32 RBI

On July 23rd, Schneemann’s batting average bottomed out at .211 after an 0-for-3 showing against the Baltimore Orioles. But he’s turned things around since then, posting a .273 batting average with a .771 OPS in 20 games since. 

Schneemann’s been a streaky hitter across his major league career, and last weekend was another example of how different the Guardians’ offense looks when he’s producing. 

On Sunday, Schneemann — who was in the No. 2 spot in the lineup — went 2-for-5 with a double, triple and two RBI. His double also likely would have been a triple had a fan not interfered with the ball he hit into the right field corner. 

Schneemann already provides a ton of value to the Guardians thanks to his ability to play all over the diamond, but his recent hot stretch has shown exactly how important he can be to the Guardians.