Cleveland Guardians Must Still Address Void Left By Injured Slugger

David Fry was one of the Cleveland Guardians' best hitters last season, but he'll miss the first half of 2025 with an elbow injury.

May 31, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians catcher David Fry (6) rounds the bases after hitting a three run home run during the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

One of the reasons the Cleveland Guardians put together such an incredible 2024 season was because of the breakout year from David Fry.

He finished the regular season with a .263/.356/.448 slash line, a .804 OPS, and a 129 wRC+. Fry was easily one of the Guardians' best hitters, earning him his first All-Star appearance.

This production continued into the playoffs, with Fry coming up with two critical home runs for the Guardians during their run.

However, Cleveland will be without their All-Star designated hitter and versatile infielder for at least the first half of the 2025 season after he underwent elbow surgery shortly after the season ended.

Based on the intial timline given, he could return to the Guardians lineup at the end of June of beginning of July. However, Fry will also be unable to play the field until the 2026 season.

Sep 14, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) celebrates with first baseman David Fry (6) after the Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Cleveland has a dilemma with this injury. Last season, Fry hit 14 home runs and drove in 51 RBI, each ranking third on the Guardians. His .804 OPS was second on the team, only behind Jose Ramirez's .872.

Where will this production come from for the first few months of 2025?

Can Kyle Manzardo copy what Fry did in 2024? Will Jhonkensy Noel overcome his swing-and-miss tendencies to be a valuable hitter for the Guardians? Can Carlos Santana avoid Father Time for another season and produce statistics similar to what he did last year?

Simply replicating Fry's stats won't be an easy task, and relying on one of Cleveland's young hitters, such as Manzardo or Noel, to produce this is an unfair expectation on a player in their first full season.

The Guardians should have been looking to add more offense even before Fry's injury news broke. Losing him for half the season should have motivated the front office even more to acquire a proven major-league hitter, but all of their moves so far have felt like lateral actions at best.

Perhaps Chris Antonetti and company still have some tricks up their sleeve before Spring Training starts in just over a month.

For now, they're putting a lot of faith in their young hitters to take a giant step forward to fill the void left by Fry and ensure that this Cleveland offense is better than it was a year ago.