Brayan Rocchio Is Looking Like The Future Shortstop Of The Cleveland Guardians

Brayan Rocchio is taking advantage of his opportunity with the Cleveland Guardians.

The Cleveland Guardians traded away both Amed Rosario and Josh Bell at this year's deadline so they could see who had the most potential for the team's future. 

At the time Gabriel Arias and Tyler Freeman were the lead candidates on the roster to get the majority of playing time with these moves. Arias could play first while Freeman filled in at shortstop. Or Arias could play short and Freeman could DH with that position opening up.

But since then, the team has brought up more of their young talent due to injuries and the departure of the pair of veterans and this is complicating the future of the shortstop position in the best way possible. 

Out of all the players Cleveland has given a shot, Brayan Rocchio looks like he could be the one with the most potential at the Major League level. He's playing like he is the future shortstop for the Cleveland Guardians.

Rocchio played in a handful of games earlier this season and got many of his firsts out of the way. First game. First hit. First error. So this time around it was all about hitting the ground running which is exactly what he's done. 

Since being promoted on August 2, Rocchio is hitting .308 (8-for-26) with 4 doubles and 2 RBI. He’s hit safely in six of the eight games he's played in. The best game of his young career was on Thursday afternoon when he had a pair of RBI doubles which helped Cleveland split a series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

One double's good, so how about two?

Brayan Rocchio rips it to the corner in right to tack on another run for the Guardians! #ForTheLand | @rocchio05 pic.twitter.com/T9MCUPzZ6Q

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) August 10, 2023

Rocchio has also made a number of nice defensive plays as well such as this over-the-head grab in shallow left field and a 360 throw at shortstop. 

Terry Francona described Rocchio as having a "really live body. Looks like from both sides of the plate, he's going to be able to handle himself pretty well. It'll be interesting to see, as he gains experience, where it goes. Because he kind of has all the tools."

The 22-year-old indeed does have all tools to be a tremendous MLB player and he's putting them all together at the right time. 

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Photo Credit © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports