Breaking Down Will Brennan's New Swing, Guardians News

Stephen Vogt says the goal for Will Brennan is to be more consistent in the Cleveland Guardians lineup.

TOMMY WILD Fef 28, 2023 1 HOUR AGO

Will Brennan was supposed to be the answer to the Cleveland Guardians' outfield woes. While he had some big moments last season and had a strong stretch at the end of May through June, there was still a lot to be desired at the plate.

Brennan went to work in the offseason and made some noticeable changes to his swing and stance.

The biggest difference here is Brennan's hands. Last season, he started with them out in front of him in a raised position but now Brennan starts with his hands resting on his back shoulder which apparently allows him to be quicker to the ball.

Brennan's stance also looks slightly different with his feet now being slightly more open in the batter's box.

But why make all of these adjustments? What's the organization's goal for Brennan for the upcoming season and what are they hoping to see from? Stephen Vogt broke that part of it down.

"I think just to find more consistency," said Vogt.

"I think by him opening up a little bit it's going to allow his direction to stay more consistent and to have a more direct path to the ball. Obviously, he's only played two games. But going left on left, home run, you know that the best thing that can happen because it just confirms that direction is where you want it to be ... I think just him making the posture and the alignments adjustments are going to help him stay more consistent."

So far, all of these adjustments have been proven to be successful in a minuscule sample size. If anything, the homer will give him the confidence he's doing the right thing.

Brennan has played in two games, hit a home run in his first at-bat, and has only struck out once. Only time will tell if these changes make him a more consistent hitter, but Vogt appears confident that that's what will happen.

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Cleveland Guardians Lose Big Part of Their Bullpen, Opening Day Availability in Doubt

As the Cleveland Guardians look to improve on a third-place finish in the American League Central from a year ago, top reliever Trevor Stephan has hit a snag. He'll be shut down for the next three weeks as he recovers from a deep bone bruise.

BRADY FARKAS Feb 28, 2023 4 HOURS AGO

As the Cleveland Guardians look to improve upon a third-place finish in the American League Central from a year ago, top reliever Trevor Stephan has hit a health snag.

The 28-year-old righty is a huge part of the bullpen bridge that leads to ace closer Emmanuel Clase. He made 71 appearances a season ago, pitching to a 4.06 ERA and striking out 75 hitters in 68.2 innings. As a result of that timeline, he may not be ready for Opening Day.

He's set to enter his fifth major league season with the New York Yankees and Guardians, having arrived in Cleveland for 2021.

Stephan is not the only key bullpen member to be dealing with an injury right now: James Karinchak is nursing a shoulder problem and doesn't have an immediate timetable for return.

It's a tumultuous first year in the dugout already for new manager Stephen Vogt, who is replacing the recently-retired Terry Francona.

The saving grace for the Guardians in all of this is that the Central figures to be mediocre again in 2024. Therefore, it might be easier to withstand some of this injury-season issue stuff. The Minnesota Twins won the division a year ago but lost All-Star Sonny Gray in free agency, as well as slugger Jorge Polanco to a trade.

The Detroit Tigers have young talent but have constant issues with health, while the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox each lost more than 100 games a season ago.

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D-backs 8
Guardians 6

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Bottom 1st

Double
José Ramírez doubles (1) on a line drive to left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Ramón Laureano scores.

AZ 0,CLE 1

Single
Gabriel Arias singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jorge Barrosa. José Ramírez scores.
AZ 0,CLE 2

Top 2nd

Double
Tucker Barnhart doubles (1) on a line drive to right fielder Deyvison De Los Santos. Jordan Lawlar scores.

AZ 1,CLE 2

Top 4th

Home Run
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homers (1) on a fly ball to left center field.

AZ 2,CLE 2

Double
Kyle Garlick doubles (1) on a line drive to left fielder Steven Kwan. Pavin Smith scores. Tucker Barnhart to 3rd.

AZ 3,CLE 2

Bottom 6th

Sac Fly
José Tena out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Brett Johnson. Angel Martínez scores. 1 out

AZ 3,CLE 3

Single
Alexfri Planez singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kevin Graham. Kyle Manzardo scores. Andrés Giménez scores. Michael Berglund to 2nd.

AZ 3,CLE 5

Bottom 7th

Passed Ball
Passed ball by catcher J. J. D'Orazio. Christian Cairo scores. Angel Martínez to 2nd.

AZ 3,CLE 6

Top 8th

Double
Sheng-Ping Chen doubles (1) on a fly ball to left fielder Johnathan Rodriguez. Brett Johnson scores.

AZ 4,CLE 6

Top 9th

Triple
Caleb Roberts triples (1) on a line drive to right fielder Alexfri Planez. Andy Weber scores. Jose Herrera scores.

AZ 6,CLE 6

Single
Kevin Graham singles on a line drive to right fielder Alexfri Planez. Caleb Roberts scores.

AZ 7,CLE 6

Single
Sheng-Ping Chen singles on a line drive to center fielder Petey Halpin. Kevin Graham scores. Brett Johnson to 2nd.

AZ 8,CLE 6

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Batting

2B Ramírez, Jo (1, Pfaadt).
TB Arias, G; Gimenez; Martínez 2; Naylor, J; Planez; Ramírez, Jo 2; Rodriguez, Jo.
RB IArias, G (1); Planez 2 (3); Ramírez, Jo (2); Tena (1).
2-out RB IArias, G.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out Planez 2; Rodriguez, Jo 2; Tena 2.
SF Tena.
Team RISP 2-for-9.
Team LOB 11.

Baserunning

SB Rodriguez, Jo (1, 2nd base off Morales/D'Orazio).

Fielding

Outfield assists Freeman, T (Lawlar at 2nd base).
DP (Hentges-Gimenez-Naylor, J).

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Martínez 3B
AB 2 R 1 H 2 RBI 0 W 1 K 0 AVG .500 OPS 1.431

Game 4 - OAKLAND ATHLETICS 11, CLEVELAND GUARDIANS 2

STARTERS

Jhonkensy Noel (1B): 0-2, K - Still waiting for some better looking at bats from Noel as he’s gotten a lot of run in the early going of camp.

Brayan Rocchio (SS): 0-2, E - Tough game for Rocchio as he made an error with a transfer of the ball from his glove to hand on a relatively routine play.

Jose Tena (2B): 0-0, 2BB - Tena did improve his patience at the plate last year, so maybe it’s carrying into 2024? He also made a rough play at second with a bad throw to first where Noel got charged with an error.

RESERVES WITH ONE OR MORE HITS

Chase DeLauter (CF): 2-2, RBI, HR - DeLauter was the talk of the game for Cleveland in an otherwise rough performance. He flipped a breaking ball to left field for a hit off of a left handed pitcher and then turned on a pitch for a rocker homer to right field. The hitter he homered off of was 27 and pitched in High-A last year, to be fair. But he showed what he can do when he can get his ‘A’ swing off.

Dayan Frias (3B): 1-1 - Frias got his second at bat of spring after being on the roster a few day in a row and collected a hit.

Angel Martinez (SS): 1-2 - Martinez had a hit for the second day in a row and also had a nice play at shortstop as he continues to make a good impression in the early going.

ALSO PLAYED

Deyvison De Los Santos (LF): 0-2, K - Another tough day for De Los Santos, and he got a look in left field for the first time in a game this spring.

Micah Pries (1B): 0-2, K

Johnathan Rodriguez (RF): 0- - Aside from a hit to right, Rodriguez has been relatively quiet in the early going.

Milan Tolentino (DH): 0-0, BB - Tolentino homered Monday then worked a walk in his only at bat on Tuesday.

Cooper Ingle (DH): 0-0, BB - No surprise that Ingle drew a walk here in his first MLB spring action as that’s one of the things he does best.

Rey Delgado (2B): 0-2, 2K

Bryan Lavastida (C): 0-1

Hunter Gaddis (RP): 2IP, H, 2K

Tyler Thornton (RP: 0.1IP, 3H, 2 ER - Came on to get the final out in the fifth inning following a rough outing by Jamie Barria, but had a tough time himself.

Franco Aleman (RP): IP, BB, K - Franco settled in after a walk to record a strikeout in his first spring outing.

Nic Enright: IP - Enright was perfect working the ninth inning.

DRESSED BUT DID NOT PLAY

RHP Bradley Hanner

LHP Randy Labaut

LHP Erik Sabrowski

C Eric Rodriguez

OF Alexfri Planez

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Terrible pitching by Barlow is disappointig; by Juan Zapata is meaningless: pitchers in camp come in various categories:
1. Fixtures on the roster
2. 40 man roster competitors to break camp
3. 40 man roster youngsters not ready for the majors
4. invitees: many are veteran minor league free agents destined to fill the Columbus roster
5. Depth camp: extra bodies to stick on the field when there are out of category 1-4 buys; includes AA relievers and some too young to compete prospects
6. Deep Depth camp: Juan Zapata: very ineffective in A and/or AA ball but why not let him out on the main field once or twice.

2-29 Lineup

Florial CF
Freeman 3B
Brennan DH
Fry C
Rocchio SS
Noel 1B
DeLauter LF
J Rodriguez RF
Brito 2B
G Williams P 2 innings, 1 walk, no hits, 4 K. Could well battle Bibee for Ace of this staff. Of course if Bieber or McKenzie is healthy either of them is ace quality too,

HR off Tim Herrin
Anthony Banda, another invited roster filler, 2 runs in the 4th. HIs 7.58 ERA in AAA last season was slighlty worse than his 6.43 and 6.75 ERA in '23 and '22 in some major league efforts

Cleveland Guardians Spring Training Prospect Report 2/28/24

ARTHUR KINNEY

FEB 29

Game 5 - Arizona Diamondbacks 8, Cleveland Guardians 6

STARTERS

Deyvison De Los Santos (RF): 0-2 - While it's not wise to read too much into any early-spring stats, a .222 OPS for a Rule 5 pick in his must-roster year is…not good. He did have a liner hit his way and took a rather rough route to get to it. His OF experience is still very limited, but it’s clear there’s a lot of work to do if he’s going to stick on the roster and play some OF.

Joey Cantillo (P): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (earned), 1 BB, 2 WP, 1 K - Cantillo started his 2024 spring debut going four-up, four-down. Some control issues in the second led to his only hit allowed (a Tucker Barnhart double) being an RBI one. All in all, however, a solid start to Joey’s campaign.

RESERVES WITH ONE OR MORE HITS

Angel Martinez (3B): 2-2, 1 R, 1 BB - Martinez is batting .500 with a 1.431 OPS in four games (all as a reserve) after posting the Guards' lone multi-hit performance of Wednesday's contest.

Alexfri Planez (RF): 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 K - Planez only had one hit yesterday, but it was a big one as his two-run single completed the Guardians’ sixth-inning comeback.

Johnathan Rodriguez (LF): 1-2, 1 K, 1 SB - J-Rod had a good afternoon both at the plate and on the basepaths.

OTHER NOTABLE RESERVES

Kyle Manzardo (PR-1B): 0-0, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP - Manzardo didn’t get a hit, or even have an official at-bat, on Wednesday in Goodyear, but he had as impressive of a day as some of the guys in the above heading.

Christian Cairo (PH-DH): 0-1, 1 R, 1 BB - While Cairo’s spring debut only saw him reach once, he - like Manzardo - scored despite the lack of a hit.

Jose Tena (SS): 0-1, 1 RBI, 1 BB,1 SF - Tena, like Manzardo, had multiple productive plate appearances, including a sac fly that started the aforementioned comeback.

Michael Berglund (C): 0-2, 1 HBP, 2 K - Berglund, whose presence in the game was a bit of a surprise as he was not on the travel roster the team provided the media earlier in the day, nearly ended up under the “also played” heading, but made it up here by reaching base via a sixth-inning plunking.

ALSO PLAYED

Juan Brito (2B): 0-2, 1 K

Petey Halpin (PR-CF): 0-2, 1 K

RELIEVERS

Connor Gillispie: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 1 K - Not the first full inning of the spring Gillispie wanted, but hardly a disaster - especially from a Depth Camp guy.

Juan Zapata: 1 IP, 6 H, 4 R (all earned), 1 K - This inning happened. Forget about it. Move on to the next outing. All that Zapata, the pitching coaches, or anyone else can do.

DRESSED BUT DID NOT PLAY

Cs Eric Rodriguez and Micael Ramirez

IF Kahlil Watson

OF Connor Kokx

Ps Trey Benton, Bradley Hanner, Jordan Jones, Randy Labaut, and Jack Leftwich

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Injuries & Moves: Straw out with illness

Feb 29, 2024 2:18 PM CST

LATEST NEWS

Feb. 29: OF Myles Straw day to day with viral illness
Straw will be out a few days because of a viral illness, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said before Thursday's game against the Angels.

Feb. 28: RHP Trevor Stephan shut down with deep bone bruise
Stephan had been feeling pain in his right elbow for a while. When he was looked at further on Wednesday, a deep bone bruise in his elbow was discovered and he'll be shut down from throwing for three weeks.

Feb. 24: OF George Valera sidelined with left hamstring strain
Just before the Cactus League opener, Valera took a misstep during popup drills and strained his left hamstring. He'll likely be sidelined for a few weeks.

INJURY UPDATES

RHP Trevor Stephan (right elbow bruise)
When Stephan's elbow was examined for discomfort on Feb. 28, a deep bone bruise was discovered. Although it was good news that there were no structural issues, Stephan will be shut down from throwing for three weeks. (Last updated: Feb. 28)

RHP James Karinchak (right shoulder fatigue)
Expected return: Hopefully by end of Spring Training
Karinchak will be on a slower schedule than the rest of the pitchers and catchers who reported to camp on Feb. 13 due to fatigue in his throwing shoulder. He got a cortisone shot on Feb. 25 and is excited to get back to throwing in the near future. (Last updated: Feb. 28)

OF George Valera (left hamstring strain)
Expected return: TBD
After dealing with hamate and hamstring issues in 2023, the injury bug bit Valera once again. In the early days of camp before Cactus League games got underway, Valera took a misstep during popup drills and strained his left hamstring. The Guardians aren't sure of an exact timetable for his return just yet, but manager Stephan Vogt said it'll at least be a few weeks.

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Gavin Williams strikes out four over two innings

https://www.mlb.com/guardians/video/gav ... efault-vtp

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Was at today's game the Guards at the Angels. So cool to see Gavin Williams be that good. We all know it's all about the health of the starting pitching and performance from the newer guys.

That's the Angels (Diablo) stadium. Very nice little ball park and close to where we live here.

A sidenote on Rocchio that won't go unnoticed by the staff. Batting right-handed he smoked a ball way over the fence and juuuust a few feet foul - so close. But wow that's some pop from the right side.

Another little tidbit- Angels batter lined one into left center and DeLauter went down with a small dive and had it for a second but dropped it. Combine that with a grounder he hit to 1B and almost beat out. That kid can move for someone that big.

That's the stuff of spring training. Staff looking for the eye test - little stuff you can't see in a box score and need to see in person to understand.

TFIR wrote: Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:44 pm That's the Angels (Diablo) stadium. Very nice little ball park and close to where we live here.

A sidenote on Rocchio that won't go unnoticed by the staff. Batting right-handed he smoked a ball way over the fence and juuuust a few feet foul - so close. But wow that's some pop from the right side.

Another little tidbit- Angels batter lined one into left center and DeLauter went down with a small dive and had it for a second but dropped it. Combine that with a grounder he hit to 1B and almost beat out. That kid can move for someone that big.

That's the stuff of spring training. Staff looking for the eye test - little stuff you can't see in a box score and need to see in person to understand.

Mark. I was going to ask you about those 2 plays before I read your review,

So Chase is big. Chase is fast. Chase plays center field well. Chase has a very good arm. Chase has a great eye at the plate. Chase is a doubles machine.

Chase is going to be a star.

Said in an earlier post that once the coaches seen this kid play they are going to do everything they can to get this kid up as soon as they can.

Top 30 Prospects in action on th first February 29 in Arizona since 2016 [or did Spring Training get started in 2020 before covid shut it down?]

Brito, Juan Cleveland Guardians MLB 2 0 0 0 0 0
31
DeLauter, Chase Cleveland Guardians MLB 1 0 0 0 1 0
32
Halpin, Petey Cleveland Guardians MLB 1 0 0 0 0 1
33
Manzardo, Kyle Cleveland Guardians MLB 1 0 0 0 0 1
34
Noel, Jhonkensy Cleveland Guardians MLB 2 0 0 0 0 0
35
Rocchio, Brayan Cleveland Guardians MLB 3 0 0 0 0 0
36
Rodriguez, Johnathan Cleveland Guardians MLB 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 CS

No top 30 pitchers in action; there are few of them in camp

Of the top 30 per BA there are 2 pitchers in camp: Cantillo no. 11 and Burns no. 20
The other pitchers among the top 30:
Espino 3, I wonder if he's throwing?
Clemmny 9, just drafted from HS last summer
Messick, 18 2022 draftee
Walters 19, 2023 draftee
Humprhies 24 2022 draftee from HS
Nikhazy 27; he's pitched in AA but not very well
Dion, 28 he's pitched very well at all levels, but I guess they don't think much of him; he's a short overachieving lefty