Red-hot Start: Guardians Infielder Dominate…
While the Cleveland Guardians are in their offseason, some players with the organization are still playing winter league games.
And one of these players is off to a remarkable winter league start.
In his first seven games with the Tiburones De La Guaira of the 2024-25 Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), infielder Gabriel Arias is batting .500 with five home runs and 11 RBI.
The 24-year-old is 13-for-26 at the plate with 11 runs, five doubles, four walks, one intentional walk, and two stolen bases. He also has an eye-popping .581 on-base percentage, 1.269 slugging percentage, and 1.850 OPS, while striking out just three times in 31 plate appearances.
For perspective, Arias played 27 regular season games for Los Tiburones last year. He batted .214 with 24 hits, seven runs, nine doubles, no home runs, eight RBI, three walks, and a .543 OPS in 118 plate appearances.
Arias, who is currently on Cleveland’s 40-man roster, began the 2024 MLB season on the Guardians’ Opening Day roster.
However, he hit .222 with 34 hits, nine doubles, one triple, three home runs, 15 RBI, 53 strikeouts to just six walks, and a .608 OPS in 53 games. This led to him being assigned to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers on July 11 for the remainder of the campaign.
But Arias bounced back in 43 Triple-A regular season games.
He batted .317 with a 53 hits, 10 doubles, five triples, six home runs, 20 RBI, 11 stolen bases, a .545 slugging percentage, and a .905 OPS. He then fared well in the International League Playoffs, hitting .308 (4-for-13) with one home run, two RBI, and an .824 OPS in three contests.
Ultimately, Guardians fans will hope that his exceptional performance so far this offseason is a sign of things to come in 2025.
