Guardians Season in Review: Brayan Rocchio

Here’s to hoping that Postseason Rocchio is what we’ll get from him next year

The Cleveland Guardians had a unique choice ahead of them, entering the 2024 season. The team has been looking for the guy who will be the true successor of Francisco Lindor at the shortstop position.

It was never going to be Amed Rosario, so once he was traded in 2023, we all knew that the search will be on this year. But the Guardians knew who they wanted to try out first, and it was none other than their long-time shortstop prospect: Brayan Rocchio.

Cleveland was very intent on playing out Rocchio throughout the entire 2024 season. But as the year progressed, Brayan didn’t. He struggled all year with power, launch angle, and making the routine plays. When he seemed to be putting on good swings, it never sustained.

It was a frustrating cycle for Rocchio, who was just trying to build a reputation for himself in his first full year as a big leaguer. Brayan finished the regular season with a rough slash line: .206/.298/.316, with an overall 79 wRC+.

On the defensive side, Rocchio statistically had the numbers to be a Gold Glove winner. Among shortstops, he tied Zach Neto as the American League leader in Defensive Runs Saved (11), was third in Outs Above Average (6) and led the AL in Ultimate Zone Rating (8.3) by a landslide, with Gunnar Henderson (4.5) being next in line.

But even though he was making a plethora of eye-opening plays, it still seemed like he would have trouble executing on the easiest of plays. There are both arguments for and against Rocchio to be had as a Gold Glove winner, but I think that he will most likely sharpen up his skills over the offseason and overcome the yips for the easier plays.

When the regular season transferred over to the postseason, the bottom of the order was a massive impending struggle for the Guardians, as there were three drastic question marks riddling that bottom third. Rocchio was one of them, who was going to be one of the non-factors in the playoffs.

Or so we thought…

In fact, Brayan Rocchio turned into one of the team’s main contributors at the plate for almost the whole entire postseason. At the plate, he was doing things he hasn’t done before, providing such a needed jolt that can transition into the top of the order.

In the very first game of the ALDS, Rocchio would end up hitting the ball the hardest he’s ever hit it in his pro career (yes, this includes the minors too, or at least when the minors started tracking EV).

Brayan hit like a monster, barreling up the ball repeatedly and also working some really great counts along the way. It was a combination of both patience and contact that we haven’t seen from the rookie all year that brought him so much success in October.

Rocchio’s October slash line was .333/.421/.485 with a 164 wRC+ and a dinger to his name. He also posted a 12.8% Walk Rate, which was such a need for an offense that wouldn’t take a free pass if they were offered it.

Defensively, however, those routine errors during the regular season began to ramp up, mainly during the ALCS. He ended up dropping a pop fly in game 2 that scored Gleyber Torres for the first run of the game. He also muffed a slow roller in the top of the 9th inning of game 4 (a run did score on that one too, but it was going to score anyway). Lastly, he dropped a toss from Andres Gimenez in an attempt to turn a quick double play, one that would have ended the inning in which Juan Soto hit the infamous series-winning 3 run bomb (even if he got the one out, Soto still might not have ended up hitting it).

Overall, there are a lot of questions surrounding the Venezuelan kid. He has upside with his glove, but just struggles mentally and makes silly mistakes, some that have costed us big-time. But his performance with the bat in the postseason leaves me at the very least hopeful that he might’ve found a stride.

Heading into next year, there are a lot of things to consider with Rocchio, especially with Travis Bazzana knocking at the door soon enough. I’m cautiously confident. And I want to see how things play out with the kid at least until the next All-Star Break.

To me, Brayan’s postseason performance at the plate has granted him this shot, so I am on board for another year with him pairing with his Venezuelan counterpart Andres Gimenez in the middle of the infield. I’m confident that he can work out the jitters he gets when routine plays present themselves, and I’d love to see if he could put on a few more pounds as well.

I’m riding with 4 for the time being.