This could be Jhonkensy Noel’s final chance with the Guardians 

Eleven months ago, Jhonkensy Noel swung his way into the hearts of Clevelanders everywhere with his game-tying home run off Luke Weaver in the American League Championship Series. 

But that’s beginning to seem more and more like a distant memory given how poorly this season has gone for him. In fact, it’s been so bad that he’s spent most of the season in Triple-A. 

But he got another lease on life on Monday when the Guardians recalled him as a part of their September call-ups. It could also be his last chance to make an impression with the Guardians. 

This could be Jhonkensy Noel’s final chance with the Guardians

It may be hard to believe, but this is Noel’s final year with an MLB option. While he’s only seen MLB action in the past two seasons, the Guardians added him to their 40-man roster after the 2021 season, so more than half of his optionable years were spent in the minor leagues. 

And, as mentioned above, he’s spent most of this year in the minors as well. Noel broke camp with the Guardians but hit just .146 across his first 46 games with the team before being sent to Triple-A. He had a three-game stint with the team in Houston but went 0-for-4, and he also went 0-for-2 on Monday. 

His last hit came on June 4 and his last home run came on May 1. Not great results for a guy who generates most of his value with his bat. 

In total, Noel is slashing .138/.159/.211 with two home runs and nine RBI across 109 at-bats. He’s been “worth” -1.4 bWAR, which is the third-lowest mark in baseball among position players.

But even with those struggles, Noel deserved a September call-up due to his uncertain roster status. He’s still pre-arbitration eligible so keeping him on the roster next year won’t be a huge financial burden, but it will impact roster construction. 

The Guardians have broken camp with plenty of out-of-option players on their roster over the years (we saw that earlier this year with Triston McKenzie), but usually it’s a veteran/older player who is on his last MLB chance. Noel, on the other hand, could find himself in that situation with less than 350 major league at-bats under his belt. 

If the Guardians do end up cutting bait with Noel, he should have plenty of takers, whether it be through a trade or the waiver wire. Even if he’s struggled this year, he still has enough power that someone will  take a chance on him, especially since he comes with so many years of team control (even if it would come with a lack of roster flexibility). 

The Guardians outfield picture is anything but settled, so he should get a chance to see plenty of action over the next month. He’ll need to find his power stroke if he wants to stick around.