The Cleveland Guardians are seeing their patience with rookie Kyle Manzardo pay off.
Manzardo will look to continue a strong start to his week on Wednesday night when the visiting Guardians (80-59) vie for a sweep of a three-game series against the skidding Kansas City Royals (75-65).
Cleveland acquired Manzardo from the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization at the trade deadline last year, encouraged by his plate discipline and solid contact hitting.
However, when the 24-year-old, left-handed hitter was called up May 6, he struggled to a .207 average while displaying little power. That earned him a return trip to Triple-A Columbus.
“One of the things Kyle worked on when he went to Columbus was really trying to define a routine as a designated hitter,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said prior to Monday’s 4-2 win.
“In the past, he played primarily first base. That wasn’t the role we had for him at the major league level. It was more the designated hitter role. The first time he came up, maybe he wasn’t accustomed to succeeding in that role.”
Manzardo became one of Columbus’ leading hitters, batting .267 with 20 homers and drawing 61 walks for a .398 on-base percentage.
Recalled from Columbus on Sunday, Manzardo promptly hit his first two home runs of the season for the Guardians. He then matched a career high with three hits in Tuesday’s 7-1 win.
“Kyle went down to Triple-A and did a really good job of developing a routine as a DH to be successful, and it was great to see it pay dividends on his first day,” Antonetti said.
Often hitting in a platoon arrangement, Manzardo is expected to remain as the designated hitter for the foreseeable future.
“Josh (Naylor) is our first baseman,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “Right now, the plan is for (Manzardo) to primarily DH.”
The Guardians will send Ben Lively (11-8, 3.92 ERA) to the mound on Wednesday against fellow right-hander Seth Lugo (14-8, 3.12).
In two career starts against Kansas City, Lively is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA. He allowed two runs on six hits in six innings of a 2-1 loss on June 27.
Lively surrendered six runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings in his last start on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Lugo is 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA in three appearances — two starts — against the Guardians. He struck out 10 in six shutout innings in a 6-2 win against Cleveland on June 30.
Since improving to 11-2 through June, Lugo has dropped six of his last nine decisions while surrendering at least five runs in five of 10 starts. In his last outing on Friday, he allowed one run on six hits and struck out nine in seven innings in a no-decision against the Houston Astros, who won 3-2.
Kansas City has lost seven games in a row and has just nine runs over its last five contests. Cleveland has won five of its past six and leads the third-place Royals by 5 1/2 games in the American League Central.
“It’s frustrating, this time of year, to go on a (losing) streak,” said Michael Massey, who is batting third in the lineup in place of Vinnie Pasquantino (broken thumb). “We’ve done this before and come out of it. We’ve got the guys in this locker room to turn it around.”
“I don’t feel like we’re pressing at all,” Royals bench coach Paul Hoover said. “We’ve just run into some good arms.”
–Field Level Media
