5 players that the Cleveland Guardians should start worrying about

Yu Chang

This one is, admittedly, a bit unfair, but only to a point. Yes, Yu Chang has only played three games in 2022 for the Guardians and another five for Double-A and Triple-A affiliates the Rubber Ducks and Clippers respectively. He’s been on the injury list and COVID list already this year, and so his at-bats are really not consistent enough to get a read on.

Yet, he was demoted to Double-A and only hit .200. Then he got called up to Triple-A and hit just .167. Yes, bad sample size, except it’s not. Not really. In the minors, he’s barely a .250 hitter, and in 355 plate appearances in the majors, he’s hitting just .210. He’s another cat who’s already 26 and still trying to “find himself” at the plate. He’s been given shots over the course of the last four seasons and never once has he really shown an ability to prove himself reliable.

This isn’t like an Owen Miller situation, where Miller barely hit .200 in his first year of action but in the minors was looking like Ted Williams. Miller needed time to adjust to the skill level but was showing regularly that he was a good hitter. Chang has always struggled to show that.

He remains hitless in the majors for 2022 and may end up being passed over like Bobby Bradley was if someone can prove he’s not worth hanging onto anymore.