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Cleveland Guardians 2025 Opening Day roster projection 1.0; Who's on, who's off?
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- Cleveland Guardians 2025 Opening Day roster projection 1.0; Who's on, who's off?
The Cleveland Guardians are a few weeks into spring training camp — and now only a few weeks from Opening Day.
As hitters continue to rack up at-bats and pitchers move forward with their throwing programs, roster outlooks around the league will continue to take shape.
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The Guardians will have a few difficult decisions , particularly centered around second base and the pitching staff .
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Who will the Guardians bring with them when they break camp and make their way to Kansas City with a 26-man roster?
Here's our first roster projection.
Catchers (2): Bo Naylor , Austin Hedges
Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges grabs a ball against the Seattle Mariners during a spring training game March 3, 2025, in Peoria, Arizona.
The Guardians are hoping to see a major step forward for Bo Naylor, who could be a key piece to lengthen the lineup a bit.
Austin Hedges, after undoubtedly playing a key role in the club's rare clubhouse chemistry that helped them in Stephen Vogt 's first season, should provide much of the same this year as Naylor's backup backstop.
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Infielders (7): Jose Ramirez , Brayan Rocchio , Carlos Santana , Kyle Manzardo , Tyler Freeman , Gabriel Arias , Daniel Schneemann
All the intrigue here is with second base. Tyler Freeman, Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann are all in the "Need to see something soon" stage if they want to earn anything close to an everyday job.
Juan Brito is the most interesting option who stands a reasonable chance of breaking all of that up. But whether he opens the season in Cleveland or Columbus, the Guardians will want him to see plenty of at-bats and regular playing time.
The same could be said about Angel Martinez , who has had some terrific stretches in the majors but also some growing pains.
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Travis Bazzana is on the way, so while the Guardians might want to see what they have in Freeman, Arias and Schneemann to a greater degree, giving Brito and/or Martinez an extended look at some point in 2025 might be a goal.
Kyle Manzardo has a chance to earn a lot of the at-bats in the DH spot until David Fry returns from an elbow injury.
Outfielders (4): Steven Kwan , Lane Thomas , Jhonkensy Noel , Will Brennan
Cleveland Guardians' Jhonkensy Noel against the Seattle Mariners during a spring training game on March 3, 2025, in Peoria, Arizona.
Stephen Vogt doesn't like the word "platoon," as he sees it as too simplified. But Jhonkensy Noel and Will Brennan could form a natural — timeshare? — in right field in some capacity.
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Chase DeLauter was a real candidate to see some major time in the Cleveland outfield in 2025, but after multiple injury-riddled seasons, he will again be sidelined for an extended period of time after needing sports hernia surgery .
He's expected to miss 8-to-12 weeks, so he'll instead have to hope for some better health luck and possibly a major league debut later in the regular season.
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Johnathan Rodriguez, with DeLauter sidelined, is an even bigger candidate to make an impression in the majors in 2025, but he could be slated to start the season in Triple-A. If he rakes in Columbus, it might not be long until he's taking some at-bats away in right field and in the DH spot. There are some positive indicators with his progress.
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The leading options at second base can also handle a temporary spell in the outfield, leaving the Guardians with a need for only four primary outfielders.
Starting pitchers (5): Tanner Bibee , Luis Ortiz, Gavin Williams , Ben Lively , Triston McKenzie
Gavin Williams , Ben Lively and Triston McKenzie are the leading candidates to fill out the Opening Day starting rotation after Tanner Bibee and Luis Ortiz .
Williams and especially McKenzie are hoping for bounce-back seasons. McKenzie needs to show he can command the strike zone well enough to handle a full workload. His battle for a roster spot largely hinges on that. Lively is trying to show his 2024 wasn't a mirage.
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Slade Cecconi ( acquired in the Josh Naylor trade ), Joey Cantillo and Logan Allen are all already on the 40-man roster. If nobody from that group steps up, Vince Velazquez and Kolby Allard are two veterans in camp on minor league deals who could fight their way into the mix.
Shane Bieber will re-join the starting rotation at some point during the regular season.
Relievers (8): Emmanuel Clase , Cade Smith , Tim Herrin , Hunter Gaddis , Paul Sewald , Jakob Junis , Andrew Walters , Erik Sabrowski
Cleveland Guardians pitcher Cade Smith (36) throws against the Chicago Cubs on March 1, 2025, in Mesa, Arizona.
Barring a crazy spring or injuries, the first six on that list should all comfortably have spots locked down. Andrew Walters and Erik Sabrowski both pitched well later in the 2024 season and could fill out the last two spots.
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If the Guardians want to be careful with Sabrowski (he's had multiple Tommy John surgeries in his career), Velazquez and Allard could again factor into that equation. Cecconi could also open the season in the bullpen if he's not in the starting rotation.
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Franco Aleman, Nic Enright and Parker Mushinski are all names in a larger group to keep an eye on for that eighth and final spot.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Projecting the Cleveland Guardians 2025 Opening Day roster
