The Guardians recalled outfielder Will Brennan from Triple-A Columbus on Monday, May 12, and optioned infielder Brayan Rocchio back to the Clippers.
The transaction came before a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers at Progressive Field .
Brennan, 27, started in right field and went 0-for-2 in his 2025 MLB debut Monday night as the Guardians won 5-0 .
Brennan was optioned to Columbus on March 24 and batted .304 (45-for-148) with eight doubles, three home runs, 18 RBIs and 19 runs scored in 35 games with the Clippers this season.
"It hurt," Brennan said regarding not making the Guardians roster coming out of spring training. "I think being a human being, it's definitely going to sting. It's not where you want to be, but you got to be a professional about it and go down and play. And it's a game at the end of the day, and take care of business and be where your cards may fall, and that's what happens. [I] went down, worked hard and got rewarded."
Brennan credited Clippers hitting coach Junior Betances for helping him improve.
"He's a wizard with the baseball bat and teaching guys how to hit, but [I] had a really solid approach and hopefully we carry it over and help this team win ball games."
Brennan was tied for third in the International League in hits (45) and was leading the Guardians minor league system in hits and total bases (62), in addition to posting the fourth-highest batting average and being tied for the fifth-highest RBI total, when he was called up.
Since April 11, Brennan has hit .327 (34-for-104) with the Clippers.
"With Will, it's the continued swing decisions," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "When Will's at his best, he's laying off the fringe pitches and hitting the ones that he can hit hard. Will made some adjustments and he's driving the ball to the pull side in the air right now, and that's really when he is at his best, is when he is in the middle of the field and he could pull the ball with authority.
"We know the type of hitter Will is. He's high contact, has a knack for getting that clutch hit with people in scoring position and he is good off the bench. He's proved that, and he's going to get some playing time versus righties and he's going to get some pinch-hit opportunities and we're just excited to see Will. He always brings a smile to everybody's face, too, when he gets here."
Rocchio , 24, has struggled at the plate this season with a .165 batting average (15-for-91), eight RBIs and eight runs in 35 games.
"He took it like a pro," Vogt said regarding Rocchio. "I mean, just the growth that he's had in a year of where he is, but he knows he has things to work on and it got to the point where just there wasn't playing time for him here to work through it. So, we want him to go get regular at-bats. He's got some things he needs to work on at the plate, some things he needs to work on in the field, base running, everything.
"Take a deep breath, go play and we'll see what happens. We know that the best version of Brayan Rocchio makes us the best version of us with him playing shortstop, and [he] just got off to a tough start and the playing time just isn't there."
Vogt has shifted Gabriel Arias from second base to shortstop and played Daniel Schneemann more at second base during the past several weeks with Rocchio on the bench.
"Gabby's done an excellent job wherever we've put him and continues to just have great at-bats, so it definitely helps," Vogt said. "And with Schnee, the way he's playing, Angel [Martinez], these guys are really playing well and we feel good about our roster right now.
"... Angel can come in play some infield. Schnee can move to all three spots. So, between Gabby, Will Wilson , Daniel Schneemann and Angel Martinez, we have four guys that can play all three infield spots. So, we feel good about the depth and, yeah, we're ready to go."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians recall Will Brennan from Columbus, option Brayan Rocchio
