Cleveland Guardians Roster
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Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez is back in the Guardians lineup and hitting second for Saturday night's game against the Atlanta Braves. Gimenez was out on Friday against Braves' southpaw Chris Sale but gets a matchup today against Charlie Morton. The lefty has never faced Morton in his career. He's hitting for a fairly average .664 OPS but has been hitting better on the road, increasing his OPS to .785 away from Progressive Field. Charlie Morton has fared much worse against lefties in 2024, putting Gimenez in a favorable matchup. Those looking for an option in DFS formats may want to entertain adding the Guardians' lefty into their lineup on Saturday night.
Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez is not in the club's starting lineup on Friday for the start of a big series in Atlanta against the Braves. With Gimenez starting on the bench, Gabriel Arias will start at the keystone and will hit seventh in the order against Braves left-hander Chris Sale. Gimenez is hitting a modest .258 (24-for-93) on the year with no home runs, 14 RBI and three stolen bases in his first 24 games. The left-handed hitter is surprisingly hitting better against southpaws (.280) in 29 plate appearances than he is against righties (.250), but he'll still get the day off against the lefty Sale. Arias has gone 14-for-50 with a homer, eight RBI and two steals early on but is hitless in his two career at-bats versus Sale.
Cleveland Guardians left-hander Logan Allen will be in search of some improved results on Thursday when he takes on the hosting Atlanta Braves. The 25-year-old owns a 5.06 ERA through five starts on the season, allowing at least three earned runs while pitching fewer than six innings in four of his five outings. Aside from six shutout innings over the Mariners on April 3, Allen has otherwise yielded 15 earned runs across 20 2/3 innings of work. There is a chance for positive regression moving forward considering Allen's 4.23 xFIP and 4.31 SIERA on the season, figures well below his surface ERA. Of course, he'll have his hands full against a Braves lineup that ranks first in baseball with a .363 wOBA on the season.
Cleveland Guardians first base prospect Kyle Manzardo continued his strong start to the season with his seventh multi-hit game on Thursday. Manzardo hit three singles, which brought in two runs to push Columbus over the Syracuse Mets. The 23-year-old has posted a .308/.387/.577 stat line across 21 games at Triple-A and has begun to hit his stride at this level after posting a .242/.343/.475 line at Triple-A last season. Manzardo is worth stashing in deeper re-draft formats for now, as he is nearing a promotion. When given the call, Manzardo should serve as the primary designated hitter for the Guardians, as Josh Naylor will continue to man first base. Manzardo will be a popular waiver-wire add when he is called up, as he is projected to make an immediate impact.
Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase picked up his eighth save of the year after firing a perfect ninth inning during Thursday's 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox. Clase entered the game with the top of the Red Sox order due up, but quickly sat them down after 12 pitches. The 26-year-old is enjoying a phenomenal start to the season, as evidenced by his 0.69 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 14/1 K/BB. Clase struggled a bit last season, but he is back to being one of the top closers in baseball. Fantasy managers can expect him to finish the year near the top of the saves leaderboard.