The Cleveland Guardians called up the next Michael Brantley

The Cleveland Guardians have called up Will Brennan.

The Cleveland Guardians are once again calling up a rookie to round out the roster heading into the final two weeks of the season. Will Brennan, one of the Guardians’ best prospects in the outfield, will join the club for the foreseeable future.

The 24-year-old was ranked 20th of all the Guardians’ minor leaguers and for good reason. In 2022, he split time between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, where he had exceptional seasons at both levels.

In Double-A, he had splits of .311/.382/.504 and an OPS of .886, while hitting 13 extra-base hits and four home runs. He had 39 RBI, 17 walks, and just 16 strikeouts in 135 at-bats.

In Triple-A, he had splits of .316/.367/.471 and an OPS of.838. He had 31 extra-base hits, nine home runs, 68 RBIs, 33 walks, and just 53 strikeouts in 395 at-bats.

For his entire minor league run before his call-up, he hit .314, had an on-base of .371, a slugging of .488, and an OPS of .850. He had 44 extra-base hits, 13 home runs, 107 RBI, and just 69 strikeouts.

Will Brennan plays just like Michael Brantley does

Will Brennan isn’t going to beat you with power. At least not the raw, home run kind. Brennan is a very good gap-hitter and has an exceptional ability to put the ball in play. The crop of young players are looking like stars of the past, with Steven Kwan looking like a young Kenny Lofton and Carlos Gonzalez looking like a young Manny Ramirez; even down to the caliber of defense both provided.

For Brennan, he’s the spitting image of Brantley. All he does is make contact, with a minor league career average of .296, that’s pretty obvious. He may not be a big-bobber and the team may still need to look for a home run hitter in the offseason, but Brennan’s arrival should allow Gonzalez to focus more on DH’ing, and less on playing defense.