Patience or Panic: Kyle Manzardo, Kyle Stowers, Jorge Soler
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Welcome to Week 18 of our Patience or Panic series!
Adding to this, Last season, it seemed like the Cleveland Guardians got Kyle Manzardo in a sweetheart deal. The Guardians acquired Manzardo from the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023 straight-up for Aaron Civale . Civale was shipped off to the Brewers in July of 2024 after a disastrous stint in Tampa Bay. Manzardo, on the other hand, raked. He posted a .945 OPS with 20 home runs in Triple-A in 2024 and was set for a regular MLB role in 2025.
Meanwhile, That 2025 role came for Manzardo and saw a superb return: A .234/.313/.455 slash, 27 home runs, 19 doubles, 70 RBIs, a .768 OPS and 113 wRC+. The then-24-year-old solidified himself as Cleveland’s long-term answer at first with plenty of upside still ahead of him. He had power to grow into, bat-to-ball abilities to find, and a BB% to be proud of. Cleveland’s shot call worked in spades.
Notably, At least it did then. 2026 has seen little return on Cleveland’s initial investment. Through 95 games, Manzardo’s hit .209/.298/.358 with just 11 home runs, 32 RBIs, a .656 OPS, and an 88 wRC+. Somehow, those numbers seem great in comparison to Manzardo’s last month of play. Over his last 22 games, he’s hitting .134/.205/.254 with a .459 OPS . In fact, Manzardo’s .429 July OPS is second-worst in all of baseball , trailing only Colt Emerson ’s .373 mark. He’s nobody’s sweetheart right now. The why is understandable. The how? Not so much.
As per the latest buzz, Finding that how demands a concession. Manzardo is, as he’s always been, a power-first kind of hitter. He hit well in the minors, yes, but his .544 slug over four seasons was the attraction. As was his 27 home runs a season ago. He’ll never hit for great average. He needn’t. So long as he’s driving the ball far and deep, and doesn’t need to happen at elite rates. Because if Manzardo is going to recapture Cleveland’s hearts, it’s going to be through longballs and barrels.
In further updates, Sadly, Manzardo isn’t having much luck in that department. His HR% has dropped from 5.1% to 3.3% in 2026. He’s not doing the first. Nor is he doing the second, with a Barrel% in similar decline. Nor is he checking out in other areas. Manzardo ranks 125th out of 147 qualified hitters this season in slugging percentage . In ISO, he ranks 97th . While an improvement, it still has him nearly in the back third of all players. Instead of going deep, he’s striking out, seeing his K% rise from 25.4% to 31.7 %. The latter now ranks Manzardo in the seventh percentile of all players.
On top of that, There’s not one cause at work here. Manzardo’s struck out 52 times on fastballs, 37 times on breaking balls, and 16 times on offspeed. Like a lothario, he’s susceptible to everything. And while he can console himself with a .261 average on all fastballs, he can’t in other departments. Against breakers, he’s hitting .159. Against offspeed pitches, he’s hitting .132. This is where average does matter, even for a guy like Manzardo. See, he can survive a .234 average so long as he’s making just enough contact. But when he’s hardly making any at all on anything?
In particular, he’s being torn apart by sliders and changeups. Manzardo is one of the worst hitters against the former. His .122 average is seventh-worst in baseball , his 48.8 Whiff% is sixth , and his 41.7 K% is 13th . He’s near defenseless. While he fares a little better against changeups, hitting .135, he has no juice against them, with a .135 slug. Manzardo, in comparison, is at least touting a .268 slug on all sliders. He can do something to them. He can’t do and hasn’t done anything against changeups.
Source: Pitcher List