In what has been the “Season of the Rookie” across all of MLB, the Guardians are no different. Today we’re going to look at the 4 main rookies that have seen playing time for the Guardians in 2026, and what we’ve learned about them so far. The players we’re looking at today are Chase DeLauter, Parker Messick, Travis Bazzana, and Angel Genao. We’re going to look at the main thing we’ve seen from them in 2026 and what they can build on as the next step in their development. First, let’s go over what we’ve learned about Chase DeLauter.
Chase DeLauter can hit
I don’t really know how else to say it, but this dude can swing the bat. At the time of writing through 125 games, he has a 130 wRC+ (10th in the AL) and a .815 OPS (11th in the AL). He doesn’t chase outside the zone, he doesn’t swing and miss, and he doesn’t strike out. He takes his walks, and he hits the ball hard. His 3.2 fWAR shows he’s already producing at the level of a player who’d be a fringe All-Star candidate.
The biggest thing I think Chase can build on would be to see if he can find some more home runs. Almost all of his home runs have come off pitches Statcast counts as on the inner third of the plate. His barrel rate on middle and away pitches is considerably higher than on inside pitches, but those barrels are not translating into home runs consistently for him yet. The contact ability and the damage ability are there on middle and away pitches; he just needs to take that one last step to really boost his damage potential.
Parker Messick is a rock in this rotation
In 2026, Parker Messick has put together about as good a Rookie of the Year case that any starting pitcher can have. At the time of writing, he’s thrown 172.1 innings with a 2.51 ERA, 178 Ks, and has put up 4.5 fWAR. In 29 starts, he’s pitched fewer than 5 innings one time and given up more than 3 ERs just 3 times. It’s hard to imagine a more consistently productive season than the one Parker Messick is having.
There’s not really any major area for me to say Parker Messick should try to build on. His fastball velocity was a bit low, but in the later parts of the season it seems like he’s starting to find a little extra when he’s needed it, touching 96-97 in some key spots. I did a bit of digging, and one thing I think he could do to get a little more depth out of his starts on average is attacking the bottom of the order a bit more. This is really splitting hairs, but his BB% against hitters 3-6 in the opposing lineup is 5.2%, but to hitters 7-9 it’s 7.1%. The gap is small, but being able to reduce that down against the worst hitters in opposing lineups could go a long way to getting deeper in games.
Travis Bazzana can be “That Guy”
It’s been a very solid season for Bazz overall. At the time of writing, a 115 wRC+, .756 OPS, 14 HRs, 19 SBs, and 2.6 fWARin 113 games is nothing short of a successful rookie campaign. But the real reason I came to this conclusion is Bazz plays the game with a fierceness and intensity that’s truly infectious for everyone around him and for fans watching. He’s already shown he’s an elite baserunner, and he’s only going to get better at that given who his main tutor is. He has good plate discipline and takes his walks, and right now he’s showing the “That Guy” factor by heating up in the midst of the most important part of the season for the Guards.
The obvious place that needs improvement is his defense. His defense at second this season has been well below league average. If he can’t figure out second base, there’s always the potential he could be moved to the OF, but given he hasn’t shown a ton of arm strength, it may be best to delay those conversations for now. From the offensive side of things, I think just maintaining that consistency in approach and not being afraid to take walks will go a long way for him. During his torrid start in his first 46 games, when he had a 138 wRC+, his BB% was 12.3%. Then he hit the large cold spell of 58 games, with a 64 wRC+, where his BB% dropped to 10.2%. Now, since the start of the Detroit series, he’s back up to a 13.9% BB%. Being able to maintain that consistent BB% when the hits aren’t dropping can do a lot of work minimizing the negative effect of slumps that inevitably happen over a long season.
Angel Genao: The X Factor
I like this classification for Genao because we haven’t really seen that much of him at the big league level yet. There’s a lot to like. He squares the ball up, hits the ball hard, doesn’t chase out of the zone, doesn’t swing and miss, and doesn’t strikeout. He’s got great speed, a good arm, and defensive versatility in the infield. There have been some drawbacks though. His LASS% (Launch Angle Sweet Spot Percent) is so low, it’s one of the worst in the sport at just 20.2%. And his BB% is very low considering how much better his chase and whiff rates are than average.
When trying to decide what he could stand to improve on, these two things stand out the most. He’s got the eye at the plate and has shown the ability to take key walks in some high leverage situations. If he can do that more consistently throughout the game, that would be a big improvement. Likewise, getting more of his hard contact into launch angle ranges that produce high percentile outcomes should help him turn more of that contact into barrel-level damage and line drives into the outfield.
The 2026 season has taught us a lot about this team, and while they may not look like a contender at the moment, the future is incredibly bright for this roster going forward. I hope none of you get tired of watching exciting baseball, because that looks to be what’s in store in Cleveland for the next several years.
(All photos are from the Guardians official Instagram page)
