Brayan Rocchio batted .253/.313/.394 this season, which doesn’t look especially impressive. The surface-level line isn’t a clever disguise, either. Even though Rocchio cut his strikeout rate substantially this year (and, indeed, has gone from .614 and .630 OPSes in his first two campaigns to this new level), his 86 DRC+ says he’s still a genuinely poor hitter. He’s only 25, but like all the other glove-first Cleveland infielders, this one feels like he’ll stay a glove-first Cleveland infielder. The switch-hitter got much better against righties (batting lefty) this year, but it was more like some good luck than a dramatic change in process.

Rocchio didn’t make a major swing change or a major approach change or a major stance change. He sought to hit the bottom half of the ball a little more, which produced just enough extra loft to boost his power, but this is not the story of an offensive breakout, either present or (probably) future. No, it’s about why Rocchio’s non-breakout seems to be just fine, as far as the Guardians are concerned, and how his performance is more impressive than it appears even to DRC+, whether it signals a further oncoming improvement or not.

All year, Rocchio was Cleveland’s starting shortstop. For most of the season, he batted ninth for them. Actually, he scattered 50 starts at other spots in the lineup, but he batted ninth 101 times. As a result, Rocchio became (along with Spencer Torkelson, also this year) the first player ever to get at least 570 plate appearances in a season and see relievers in over half of them. He came up 592 times; he faced relievers in 297 of those trips. All season, he only faced a starting pitcher the third time in a game 31 times. The only player ever to get a lower percentage of their at-bats in that favorable circumstance was Ceddanne Rafaela, who only faced a starter three times in 18 games in 2024. Rocchio actually faced relievers for a second or third time in a game almost as often (28 times) as he got a third look at a starter.