Will The Guardians Try Gabriel Arias At A New Position?

Cleveland called up Gabriel Arias for the third time on Wednesday afternoon. Are they willing to see how he can contribute at other spots on the diamond?

When the Guardians sent Mike Clevinger to the San Diego Padres back in 2020, they got a high-level prospect back in Gabriel Arias. The infielder with star potential could've been the heir to Jose Ramirez or Francisco Lindor if one or both were shipped out of town.

Thankfully, that didn't happen to Jose. However, that did leave Arias in an awkward position with his spot already filled at the Big League and a surplus of middle infield prospects who were just as praised as he was.

Flash forward to 2022 and Arias finally got his shot in two separate stints with the Big League club and they were, underwhelming. He had only two hits in 19 at-bats ( .105 AVG) and just looked lost at the plate.

But there's no reason to give up on him yet and the Guardians clearly haven't.

They optioned Arias back on July 4 and since then he's been getting work in while down in Columbus. This includes offensively and defensively.

The once middle infielder has expanded his role and has taken reps and both first base and in the outfield making him and dynamic and versatile man on the roster.

The Guardians need backup help at both spots. Owen Miller has been on fire as of late but there still are concerns about him defensively. On the Outfield side of things, Oscar Gonzalez has been great but played every inning of the five games in four days (including a 14-game extra-innings game) against the Twins and needs days to get some rest. 

So it's very possible that we see Arias playing at both of these positions. 

Maybe a little more consistency or a need to have Arias in the lineup will help his offensive numbers too. Since he is likely to get more playing time he won't be trying to do too much to prove himself at the plate.

It's incredible that this late in the season we are still talking about how the young guys are able to contribute so much to this team. But that's been the theme the whole year.

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