Guardians’ Snowman Reveals My Freezing Cold Take

It’s a pleasure to be wrong

I was wrong. The Schneemann family was right. Daniel Schneemann is a major league caliber player who may even be a good one.

I want to begin by saying “This one’s on me, coach.” Former CTC siterunner Matt Dallas, prospect guru and Sunday columnist Matt Schlichting and ball-knowing staff writer Nicole all have been Schnee-lievers for a while. Although, I guess the preferred nomenclature is “Schneemann’s Demons.” And last season, when Schneemann was on an insane run in Columbus, I argued that the team should give him a look in a utility role.

But, then, after a great first 14 games, Schneemann put up a 71 wRC+ the rest of the year. He looked like he wouldn’t be able to balance his swing-and-miss issues by hitting the ball hard and exercising solid plate discipline. He looked like one would expect a player who had a wRC+ in the 90’s for his minor league career should look.

But the Guardians clearly still believed in Schneemann’s value as a player who can play almost anywhere on the diamond defensively and be competent anywhere. They also seemed to see upside in his bat as a potential late bloomer in the mold of Guardians’ 2024 All-Star David Fry.

But, not me. I whined about why Juan Brito wasn’t getting a shot out of Spring Training. I said I would be happy if they put Schneemann in Columbus.

It wasn’t because I don’t like the Mormon Masher. It wasn’t because I didn’t see the tremendous storybook value in a 33rd round draft pick finding something at the age of 27 and make something of himself in Major League Baseball. You don’t have to Google to far to find some amazing stories about Schneemann’s journey.

No, it was just me putting too much stock into past minor league performance and too little stock into how hard we ALL know it is to adjust to the adjustments major league pitching makes to all hitters.

After today’s heroism against the Blue Jays, Schneemann has a 156 wRC+, and 29/9 K/BB%, and plays an average defense at practically every infield and outfield position but shortstop (excluding catcher and pitcher, of course). His overall MLB wRC+ is 100 and ZiPS rest of season projections say he’s likely to be a 100 wRC+ through to the end of the year. That, with solid defense all over the diamond makes him a valuable player on any major league roster if he can meet those projections. And he clearly has potential to take over a game, something that cannot be said for many utility bats.

It is an absolute delight to be wrong about a player turning out to be good. I would SO much rather have this be the case than have one of my all-time favorites Triston McKenzie prove me “wrong” by looking like he may struggle to make a big league roster, period (I’m still holding on to hope!).

There are still concerns… a 77% zone contact rate seems somewhat unsustainable. But, he didn’t have any trouble making very hard contact all four trips to the plate today… including this one:

Schneemann’s name is German for “Snowman” and he has put my old takes about him not being a big league player appropriately on ice. And, man, I’m here for it. Prove everyone wrong, Schnee, and help win us a championship while you’re at it. I’ll be cheering you on the whole way.