FanGraphs has the Cleveland Guardians’ Oscar Gonazalez taking a step back in 2023

Is Oscar Gonzalez going to take a step back during the Cleveland Guardians 2023 season?

Oscar Gonzalez was a bright spot among the sea of bright rookies. The club looked fantastic with their developing core of young players and with the recent trade of Will Benson to Cincinnati, the Guards looked poised to start Gonzalez opposite of Steven Kwan in right field, with Myles Straw patrolling center.

But is that still the goal? It seems to be but not everyone is as bullish on Gonzalez touching on his 2022 performance in 2023. Gonzalez was incredible for a rookie, putting up .296/.327/.461 with a .788 OPS with 11 home runs, 27 doubles, and 43 home runs, he looked like a young Manny Ramirez.

Yet despite his performance, there are some in the know that believes that Gonzalez is poised for a regression. Those people work for FanGraphs apparently. FanGraphs ZiPS projections see Gonzalez dipping to .263/.293/.438/ but hitting 21 home runs and 58 RBIs.

Now listen, those aren’t huge drop-offs, and the power is there, but fans need to keep something in mind; projections are just educated guesses.

Oscar Gonzalzes 2023 is not set in stone

Gonzalez may have a down 2023 compared to 2022. He may have a better 2023 than expected. It’s impossible to say, and it’s anyone’s guess how this goes for the sophomore player. Gonzalez is going to see an increased amount of playing time and that means that it’s very likely he gets keyed on by opposing pitchers and they figure him out.

It’s also worth noting that he’ll also be in a much better lineup for 2023. Mike Zunino and Josh Bell are going to provide a lot of help for this lineup, and that’s not all. Adding two sluggers is great, but what’s even better is getting Jose Ramirez back to 100%. The MVP candidate, at least for what’s expected of him, struggled after his thumb injury.

Now that the thumb is healed, and Ramirez has some adequate help around him, Gonzalez should get far more opportunities to produce. So no, it’s not a foregone conclusion that Gonzalez fades a bit in 2023. If anything, he could in fact take the next step toward becoming an All-Star.

No one knows, so the best thing for Cleveland Guardians fans to do is to wait and be patient. The season is only two months away.