News and Notes for Thursday, March 20th, 2025
Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has officially named Tanner Bibee as this year’s Opening Day starter. Bibee will be the first pitcher since 2014 not named Corey Kluber or Shane Bieber to pitch Opening Day for Cleveland. An honor that is more than deserved.
The Guardians Home Opener on Tuesday, April 8th is officially sold out. The Ballpark pass and standing room only tickets are now on sale to fill in the remaining nooks and crannies at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
Infielder Kyle Datres has been signed to a minor league deal and has reported to the minor league facilities in Goodyear. Datres is a 29 year old third baseman who was drafted in the 12 round in 2018 by the Colorado Rockies. He spent the majority of last season with the Rockies’ AA affiliate – the Hartford Yard Goats – where he hit .226/.343/.394.
The Guardians played their last split squad games of the spring. Both resulting in loses. Zach has both game recaps here.
Zack Meisel sat with top prospect Travis Bazzana, taking a look into his baseball driven mind. Its no secret that the front office is excellent at drafting a specific personality that’s driven, humble, and ambitious. Even so, Twitter user mlbeuphoria said it best:
I’m convinced this guy was made in a lab to take the Cleveland Guardians to the World Series
These types of guys don’t come around all that often pic.twitter.com/FYFHdHpuhh
— Bryce (@mlbeuphoria) March 20, 2025
Rule 5 draft pick Christian Cairo will be returning to the Cleveland organization from the Atlanta Braves.
Keith Law of The Athletic wrote up a scouting report on a handful of Guardians prospects: Welbyn Francisca, Jaison Chourio, Ralphy Velazquez, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Juneiker Caceres.
Hannah Keyser of The Guardian wrote a piece on a very interesting perspective of the Cleveland Guardians front office and staff. That of a first time mother. This article provided great insight on the unique struggles women in baseball who choose to become mothers face working in this sport.
In other news, sometimes online bullying can be used for good. After very public criticism from long respected ESPN reporter Jeff Passan, the Department of Defense has restored the webpage of baseball legend and US Army veteran Jackie Robinson.
The @DeptofDefense story on Jackie Robinson has been restored to its original URL. No longer does it redirect to one with the letters “dei” in it: https://t.co/fOV2UH2m7t
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 19, 2025