In 2025, even though the Cleveland Guardians offense scored more runs than just the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates, they still found a way to win the AL Central through a combination of defense and pitching.

This offseason when everyone was screaming at the front office that they needed to acquire more offense, the front office decided to settle on adding another reliever in Shawn Armstrong. They also retained their backup catcher Austin Hedges, but they did not bring in a new player to their roster until spring training where they signed Rhys Hoskins to a one year deal for $1.5M. Despite only adding in Hoskins at the last minute to add to their offense, Cleveland’s offense is already showing some signs of life this year.

Kwan and José:

When you think of who could be leading the lineup, you probably think about Steven Kwan and José Ramírez, but neither of these two players have preformed very well for the team this season. Kwan normally provides value at the top of the lineup with incredible plate discipline, making a lot of soft contact, and good baserunning. While his walk and strikeout rates are fine, you weren’t expecting him to put up a .231 average. Looking at his quality of contact his soft contact rate has jumped nine percent from 2025 and he’s now hitting the ball on the ground at a new career high 46.1%. Hitting the ball softer and on the ground more is not a recipe for success and I’m not looking to acquire him on the hopes that he rebounds. As for José, he’s running a BABIP of .210 which is unsustainable considering he’s hitting the ball harder than last year and his strikeout rate has only jumped 2.4%. If you’ve invested this much in either of these two players you’re not making any crazy decisions right now.

The Rookies:

After a long awaited debut Chase DeLauter made a loud arrival to the majors this year after making his debut in the 2025 postseason. If he can stay on the field he could become a 25-30 HR hitter with a .270-.280 average and an even better OBP, which is something Cleveland desperately needs from an outfielder. That being said the if he stays on the field is a significant question and will likely determine if he can be a top 50-75 player or a player who spends a lot of time on the IL. I’m treating him as a hold lottery ticket. Anyone with him rostered is not selling him for a reasonable price right now and if I were to cash out on DeLauter I would have done that after hitting a bazillion homers opening weekend.

Another rookie making plenty of noise out of the Cleveland system right now is second basemen Travis Bazzana. Taken first overall in the 2024 draft, his path to the majors was slowed down by a couple oblique injuries which likely explains some of the consistency issues he was having in 2025. He now features elite plate discipline (think like 17% walk rate in the minors), an elite batted ball profile, and great speed that could project to 25+ SB’s per season. There’s little question about his high floor, but what many people are undervaluing right now is how high his ceiling could be. Bazzana takes nothing for granted, and he’s always trying to find the next competitive advantage. The warning flags about a hit over power type of player are disappearing, which is a green flag. This could be a 20-25 HR / 25+ SB combination with an OBP north of .400 if it all clicks, which is what a top 10-25 type of player can look like if it all clicks.

The Every Day Players:

Angel Martínez remains one of my favorite players in baseball because of how he’s able to energize his whole team as well as making some great layouts and having a strong arm. Last year he played 139 games in the majors despite doing nothing statistically because of his defensive versatility and how thin the Guardian’s roster was. What’s changed this year is that he’s hitting the ball much better and that’s leading to a .275/.306/.480/.786 AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS slash line. While I’m not seeing anything under the radar to suggest his improvements are unsustainable, this is still a small sample size and I’m not extrapolating this one month sample the rest of the season and beyond. Since I don’t think you’re going to get anything back from selling him I’ll continue riding the wave and enjoy the multi-positional eligibility.

Another player who will continue getting everyday AB’s is Brayan Rocchio. So far this season he’s improved his strikeout rates from 20.1% last year to 8.9%, which has helped his ratio stats like the OPS rise from .630 to .754 because he’s putting the ball in play more often. The market for Rocchio remains the same as the market for Angel so I’m going to continue to ride out the Rocchio wave as long as I can.

Players with Playtime in Question:

With the signing of Hoskins, Kyle Manzardo remains stuck in a strong side platoon role. He’s had a couple of years to earn opportunities to hit against lefties but has not gotten those opportunities despite hitting in a weak lineup. A good bat will find a way to play in a good lineup so maybe what we’ve seen so far is what Manzardo will continue to be.

Daniel Schneemann remains someone who will get playtime against righties due to his positional versatility. The quality of contact he’s making (90.1 ev, 41.5% hard-hit rate, and 11.3% barrel rate) is legit and he’s also increased his launch angle by 3%. That being said the overall contact rate needs to be improved as he’s now striking out just over 30% of the time, which limits his upside. I don’t expect him to maintain a .429 BABIP so he’s a big candidate of mine for regression. The choice is yours if you would like to ride the hot streak or not touch him at all in your leagues.

As a strong side platoon catcher hitting at the bottom of the order, Bo Naylor becomes difficult to roster in fantasy baseball. Other players who are also difficult to roster for lack of playing time are the small side platoons of Austin Hedges, David Fry, and Rhys Hoskins. While platoons are how the Guardians get extra production out of their lineup, these are not viable options for fantasy baseball.

The last spot on the roster will be a mix of players likely until Gabriel Arias comes off the IL. Something to monitor for playtime in those deep 30 team league, but no need to act on anything right now.

Conclusion:

With the summer months approaching in Cleveland the Guardians offense looks much better than last year. While it might be a stretch to expect a top ten offense, could they have an average offense? With DeLauter and Bazzana on top of Kwan and José, absolutely. And with a stronger offense comes more PA’s for the whole lineup.

Final verdicts:
Buy: José Ramírez, Travis Bazzana
Buy/Hold: Angel Martínez, Brayan Rocchio
Hold: Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, Daniel Schneeman
Sell: Kyle Manzardo
Don’t roster in most leagues: Bo Naylor, Austin Hedges, David Fry, Rhys Hoskins