The Guardians have some players who are doing well in Spring Training, so let’s talk about that.
The usual caveat applies here that in-game performance in Spring Training is a dangerous game. You never know exactly what is meaningful, what is not meaningful, and what is somewhere in between. With that said, here are some players catching my eye this Spring:
Pitchers: Slade Cecconi – 3.15 FIP, 9.95/2.13 K/BB/9 – Cecconi has come into camp looking a lot more confident in his new, Guardians-inspired pitching
repertoire/pitch shapes than he did last year, and seems primed for improvements across the board.
Cade Smith – 0.96 FIP, 12/0 K/BB/9 – Despite missing the first part of camp with neck soreness, Smith looks absolutely locked in as the team’s established closer for 2026.
Magnus Ellerts – 0.63 FIP, 13.5/0 K/BB/9 – Folks, if Ellerts has corrected at least some of his walk issues he will be in the major league bullpen sooner rather than later because he has electric stuff and can hit 100 mph. He has the highest perceived velocity in Guardians’ camp this spring at 95.9 mph.
Daniel Espino – 0.65 FIP, 13.5/0 K/BB/9 – Ah, if he can only stay healthy… he looked special as always.
Jack Jasiak – 0.20 FIP, 15.43/0 K/BB/9 – Jasiak has been eating hitters alive with his sweeper. Can that continue? I guess we will see.
Peyton Pallette – 0.96 FIP, 21/6 K/BB/9 – Pallette has popped with some great velocity and pitch movement. We’re all rooting for him to make the Opening Day roster and stay with the club.
Erik Sabrowski – 1.38 FIP, 20.25/6.75 K/BB/9 – Sabrowski remains absolutely nasty for no good reason.
Will Dion – 2.05 FIP, 7.11/0 K/BB/9 – With Austin Peterson hurt, it’s important that Dion looks like a potentially viable fifth starter.
Connor Brogdon – 3.05 FIP, 10.29/2.57 K/BB/9 – Brogdon should get a chance to show he belongs with Hunter Gaddis likely building up for the season after experiencing forearm tightness.
Tim Herrin – 3.63 FIP, 10.8/5.40 K/BB/9 – Herrin has been building on some positives late in 2025 to show he belongs back in the bullpen.
Tanner Bibee – 3.15 FIP, 7.82/0 K/BB/9 – Bibee has very obviously been working on throwing strikes and getting his pitch mix right… stop throwing that four-seamer so much, Tanner.
Gavin Williams – 3.38 FIP, 10.13/1.13 K/BB/9 – Williams looks like the Opening Day starter and anchor to the rotation the Guardians need him to be.
Shawn Armstrong – 2.63 FIP, 11.25/4.50 K/BB/9 – Reliable veteran doing reliable veteran things.
Jack Leftwich – 0.90 FIP, 12.270 K/BB/9 – Leftwich is working his way into that long-man role and looking potentially viable there if called upon.
Some underlying numbers also look great for Joey Cantillo and Colin Holderman, they just need to hone in on control and command.
Hitters:
Bo Naylor – 258 wRC+, 16.7/16.7 K/BB% (his OPS in the WBC is a shade below .700, which isn’t great but not bad, either).
Chase DeLauter – 188 wRC+, 5/10 K/BB% – If he’s healthy, the kid just HITS.
George Valera – 108 wRC+, 25.9/7.4 K/BB% – This can play vs. RHP.
Petey Halpin – 176 wRC+, 20.8/16.7 K/BB% – No way that Halpin can maintain this walk rate, but if he could cut his strikeouts closer to this and play great defense, he will be an excellent strong-side platoon centerfielder.
Ralphy Velazquez – 155 wRC+, 7.1/7.1 K/BB% – Ralphy definitely opened some eyes this Spring. He is getting steady “First Baseman of the Future” talk, but hopefully will make himself a left-field option.
Kahlil Watson – 213 wRC+, 31.3/12.5 K/BB% – Watson was a camp darling and you can see his approach was “swing the bat” and he made a lot of quality contact… but also had a lot of whiff.
Brayan Rocchio – 144 wRC+, 18.2/12.2 K/BB% – Rocchio has looked quiet, confident and effective at the plate. Him being an above average hitter would be a huge boon to this lineup.
Milan Tolentino – 185 wRC+, 14.3/33.3 K/BB% – Tolentino is not going to be a good major league hitter unless a miracle happens, but he is at least making himself look like he can do a Gabriel Arias approximation if the team FINALLY moves on there.
Jaison Chourio – 144 wRC+, 18.8/0 K/BB% – Good to see Chourio get some solid contact, but he’ll obviously need to take some walks to build back up his prospect status
Angel Martinez – 250 wRC+, 14.8/7.4 K/BB% – Angel has looked more confident in center and his K/BB% is what you want to see, along with – obviously – some good hitting. I think Angel has probably secured the 4th outfielder spot on the Opening Day roster, and good for him.
Juan Brito – 104 wRC+, 29.2/20.8 K/BB% – Just on the edge of missing this list, Brito had a couple terrible games defensively at third base, but has looked fine at second base. Really wish they’d give him a shot at Opening Day there and move Rocchio to short, but it looks like we are getting Arias at short and Rocchio at second for a while. Ah well.
As we’ve said several times, if the Guardians can finish camp mostly healthy, it will be a successful spring training. But, so far, with a couple weeks left, the team has also seen plenty of performances to be encouraged about as far as 2026 is concerned. Which of the names above has you most excited? Let us know in the comments below.
