His long-awaited arrival in the bigs is finally here
The Guardians are expected to call-up Kyle Manzardo and add him to the roster for tonight’s 6:10PM EST game against the Detroit Tigers.
Manzardo’s debut comes at the expense of Steven Kwan headed to the IL with a hamstring injury. Hopefully, Kwan’s ailment is minor and he will be back shortly, and, in the meantime, Manzardo can establish himself as an indispensible bat for the Guardians’ lineup.
The Guardians acquired Manzardo in a trade deadline deal last summer sending Aaron Civale to Tampa Bay. Interestingly, Zack Meisel of the Athletic recently reported that a scout informed him some Tampa Bay executives regretted the deal. Civale has a 4.33 FIP for Tampa. Meanwhile, since the trade, Manzardo has put up a 129 wRC+ for Cleveland in Triple-A, 16.1/12.2 K/BB%, .323 ISO, .253 BABIP, 6.8% SwingingStrikeRate%, and a 50% fly-ball rate. This season has seen Manzardo hitting at a 149 wRC+ clip, allowing the team to call him up while he’s hitting well.
Thomas Nestico of @tjstats had a breakdown of Manzardo’s Triple-A metrics on Twitter:
Kyle Manzardo has been crushing AAA pitching this season and may be getting the call to MLB soon
He has displayed fantastic contact metrics, with plus power. He is a very patient hitter, which will help him draw BB, but be susceptible to called strikes
He has a 149 wRC+ https://t.co/4xjV7q3LHq pic.twitter.com/pd79uD3zSk
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) May 5, 2024
He can hit it out opposite field:
Excited to see Kyle Manzardo make his MLB debut for the Guardians.
Career 13.4% BB-rate in 990 MILB PA. 10th among International League hitters this season with a 149 wRC+.
Current 45, 50 FV hit tool comparable to another 1B, Pete Alonso. pic.twitter.com/2moJYqqZdM
— Louis Addeo-Weiss (@addeo_louis00) May 6, 2024
He can also pull it:
Kyle Manzardo his hitting nukes at AAA. He’s got 6-HR already, and a near .960-OPS…
Gonna need Cleveland to push the button soon.. pic.twitter.com/nfBuD8gipz
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) April 28, 2024
Or if you need it, he’ll deposit one in centerfield:
Kyle Manzardo has been RAKING over his last 10 games.
43 PA, .395/.442/.947, 3 2B, 6 HR, 4/7 BB/K#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/vCsK5Fm0C5
— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) May 1, 2024
He also has an amazing mustache as seen in this brief interview:
Kyle Manzardo knows there’s a lot of buzz around him and that a call to the majors could come at any moment. Here’s what he says about the approach he’s taking every night with the @CLBClippers pic.twitter.com/2rC0H2si6Q
— David DeGuzman (@ddeguzmanTV) April 30, 2024
Kylie McDaniel of ESPN ranked Manzardo 83rd out of all MLB prospects coming into this season, comparing him to Texas’s Nathaniel Lowe and setting an expectation of a 1.5-2.5 WAR per season 1B/DH-type. Eric Longehagen of FanGraphs has some doubts about Manzardo’s power, seeing him as more of .400 slugging than .450 guy, but did mention that early on Manzardo comped well to John Olerud. Most exciting of all the comparisons, likely, is ZiPS having John Olerud, Todd Helton and Elbie Fletcher as the three best comps for Manzardo’s performance at his age. Keith Law of the Athletic had Manzardo as his 66th best prospect in MLB and sees .380-400 OBP with 30 homers as a good projected ceiling for him.
For the rest of the 2024 season, Manzardo has the third best projected wRC+ on the Guardians at 123 wRC+ (averaged out). I would expect Manzardo and Josh Naylor to start every day at either first base or DH, with Manzardo getting a game off every 6 days or so, especially against LHP, to let Jose Ramirez get his DH days. Manzardo has only an OPS of around .710 against LHP over the past three seasons, so, while he shouldn’t be unplayable against LHP, and can certainly grow in his performance against them as he is only 23 years old, limiting his exposure against them is probably a good idea.
It will be interesting to see where Manzardo bats in the order. With Kwan out, I’d like to see Manzardo batting second, with Jose third and Josh Naylor fourth, while giving folks like Tyler Freeman, Estevan Florial, Will Brennan and even Brayan Rocchio some chances to lead off. If Bo Naylor can right the ship, I’d add him to those options as well. There were some concerns about how Manzardo and Josh Naylor co-exist but I see no reason why with first base and DH as two positions in the lineup, the two can’t be everyday players while rotating some other guys at DH to get both some needed load management.
It’s important to remember that adjusting to big league pitching is always a challenge, but Manzardo seems about as fit for the challenge as any hitting prospect with his combination of exit velocity, launch angle and plate discipline. I’m sure his coaches will encourage him to relax and stay within his strengths.
Manzardo had a shoulder injury last year while also being concerned about some severe health issues for close family members. This time period seems to have lingered in some scout’s doubts about him, but everything I see from Manzardo – a low swinging strike rate, the ability to both pull and lift the ball while barrelling it, make him the most exciting hitter to emerge from the Guardians’ farm system since… well… since Francisco Lindor? Now, Manzardo won’t offer anything much defensively like the shortstop savant Lindor is, but I think we can have reasonable hope he will be a mainstay at the top of the order for the next few years. Welcome to Cleveland, Kyle!