Guardians notes: Playing outfield for Cleveland is no simple task

CLEVELAND — It's not easy being a Guardians outfielder these days. "It's extremely difficult what we ask our outfielders to do, how we're moving guys around," manager Stephen Vogt said prior to the series opener against Tampa Bay at Progressive Field on Monday night. "We knew that. That's why we did it so much during spring training, to get as many guys as many looks in different spots as possible." Cleveland's — Steven Kwan, Angel Martinez and George Valera — had all played at different spots in the outfield in 29 games through Sunday. Kwan has played center and left, where he won four straight Gold Gloves, while Martinez has been at all three spots and Valera has manned right and left. CJ Kayfus played right and left as well before being optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Valera has looked shaky at times, misplaying a ball in left from Myles Straw that loomed large in a loss at Toronto on Saturday. "He hasn't played a ton of outfield, he and Chase (DeLauter) both. They both dealt with a lot of injuries and so, that comes with its difficulties as well. And then you couple in with tough walls in Toronto and a dome and a roof and different elements. "This is a young team, maybe not age-wise, but experience-wise. And we're going to continue to work with them and there's going to be some difficult moments, but that doesn't mean that they're never going to go back out there again." DeLauter has only played right during his first regular season in the majors. But he made his MLB debut in the postseason as a center fielder last year, dropping a ball in the first inning of a 2-1 loss to the Tigers in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at Progressive Field. After a big offensive start to the season, DeLauter has cooled significantly, entering Monday batting .233 in 26 games and .150 (6-for-40) over his last 11 games. But he was 5-for-17 over his last five games through Sunday and had reached safely in 23 of 26 games. "Chase is well mature beyond his years as far as his approach," Vogt said. "And if you see it, he'll take his walks. Anytime you come out with a bang the way he did in Seattle, you're going to get circled in the lineup. But Chase has stayed steady and stayed true to his approach. And that's why you're seeing the quality at-bats despite maybe the lack of hits. And that's why we don't look at batting average. That's why it's an old stat."\ Slow ride Steven Kwan normally starts fast, but not this year. He was hitting .225 with a .310 on-base percentage and .595 OPS in 27 games through Sunday. "I don't know if we could pinpoint anything. I think Kwany's had a tough month. I chalk it up to that," Vogt said. "You look at anybody's season they're going to have a tough month. It doesn't matter who you are. We talked to him about maybe being a little more aggressive. We started to see that. He's still getting his hits. He's still throwing them out there, and I still maintain that Kwany's one of the best leadoff hitters in the league." Kwan hit .322 with a .370 on-base percentage and .836 OPS over the first month last year, preceded by .350/.395/.879 in 2024, .279/.369/.703 in 2023 and .354/.459/.959 in 2022. Send me an Angel Martinez entered Monday batting .339 with four doubles, five homers, 15 RBIs and a .984 OPS since April 7. The switch-hitting Martinez had raised multiple splits from last year through Sunday, including average against right-handed pitchers (.197 to .296), average with runners on base (.237 to .313), average with runners in scoring position (.250 to .353) and average with runners in scoring position with two outs (.209 to .333). Bananas for Bazzana Vogt didn't sound like a promotion was imminent for second baseman Travis Bazanna, who is in the midst of an impressive first month for Triple-A Columbus. Bazanna was batting .304 with a .965 OPS, 10 doubles, two homers, nine RBIs and eight stolen bases in 20 games this month through Sunday. "I get updates. I do my best to stay present," Vogt said, regarding the top overall draft pick two years ago. "We have a lot of people that work in our player development and front office and coaching staff that follow that closely. I'm always keeping an eye out. We have a number of players playing really, really well in Triple-A right now." Roundin' third The Guardians entered Monday ranked fifth in the American League with a .259 batting average with runners in scoring position. … Cleveland pitchers had recorded a major league-leading 267 strikeouts through Sunday. It is the most in franchise history through the first 29 games. … The Guardians faced left-hander Steven Matz on Monday. They entered the game 13-2 against lefty starters this season. ... The Avon High School A Capella performed the national anthem. ... There was a moment of silence for former Cleveland player and assistant coach Luis Isaac, who died Sunday at the age of 80. Isaac was the bullpen catcher from 1987-91 then again from 1994-2008, serving under seven different managers, which included Mike Hargrove, Charlie Manuel and Eric Wedge. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @CAwesomeheimer.