An Encouraging Sign For Guardians' Andres Gimenez

Andres Gimenez finished the month of September as one of the hottest hitters on the Cleveland Guardians in MLB.

A lot has already been said about the Cleveland Guardians and their lackluster offense during the 2023 season. 

Andres Gimenez probably had the roughest season when looking at everyone on the roster. He signed a seven-year, $106 million extension before the season but regressed on at the plate for the majority of the year.

He had a slash line of .234/.303/.380 from the end of March through the end of August. The most concerning stat to see was his BABIP went from a .353 in 2022 to a .270 through this stretch in 2023.

Gimenez's main issue in 2023 was against offspeed pitches. He had a WOBA of .167 against them compared to 2022 when that same stat sat at .468 (per Baseball Savant). 

There clearly still needs a lot of work to be done before we can consider Gimenez one of the best hitters on the team, but there are some encouraging signs for the still-young middle infielder. Even though Gimenez had a largely underwhelming season, he did finish off 2023 with plenty of momentum for next year.

Gimenez's .333 batting average was top-10 in MLB in the month of September and he also had slugged .490 with a .859 OPS to wrap up the year. This bumped his season batting average up to .250 and his OPS to .712. 

Sep 13, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez (0) is greeted by teammates after scoring a run on a throwing error during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports / © Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Those numbers aren't nearly where they were at the end of 2022, but still a respectable season. The way he finished out the year strong is definitely something Gimenez can build upon and get excited about for 2024.