Oscar Gonzalez has found himself receiving regular playing time with the Cleveland Guardians and has managed an impressively hot start. This comes during a time when the club is without Franmil Reyes due to an injury. Additionally, Steven Kwan has cooled off significantly since his own hot start. Gonzalez has seemingly bumped fellow Oscar (Mercado) from the lineup and that has provided an offensive jolt the displaced Oscar simply is not capable of.
In four games Gonzalez has seven hits in 16 at-bats with two doubles and two strikeouts. It is an extremely small sample size, however it is encouraging to see Gonzalez get off and running. Many times young players get the call to the majors and struggle, leading to the team decreasing playing time or sending him down to Triple-A. Through his first four games there has been no need for either of those actions to be taken.
It must be noted while Oscar Gonzalez has impressed early on there will be a correction in his numbers. Currently Gonzalez has a BABIP of .538, nearly twice as much as his number in Triple-A (.286). At some point this number will come down which will result in Gonzalez’ .438/.438/.563 slash line drop significantly. It is expected to happen at some point and it is not a reason to panic. Granted a slower dip into what should be his average numbers will be a lot more palatable than an all out crater.
More roster shuffling is on the horizon
There is going to come a time rather soon that Reyes will return from the injured list. Once that happens another roster crunch will happen. If Oscar Gonzalez can be a productive bat in the lineup it will be hard to remove him from the equation. This could lead to the team considering other options. Cleveland could end up designating Mercado for assignment. The Guardians have been more willing to shuffle players they feel they have learned enough about this year and Mercado could certainly next. Cleveland could also opt to send Richie Palacios back to Columbus if they want to retain Mercado.
Stat corrections and defensive gaffes aside, Oscar Gonzalez has earned the opportunity to continue seeing playing time. There are other outfielders in the system and the team cannot afford to continue their mistakes of the past when it comes to outfield evaluation. Giving enough playing time to players such as Gonzalez is an absolute must for a team in transition.
