Guardians employing youngest roster in baseball for second straight season

CLEVELAND — Though they have produced different results thus far, the Guardians are employing the youngest roster in baseball for the second straight season. The average age of Cleveland's roster is 26.4, well below the major league average of 29.3 and almost one year lower than the second-youngest team in MLB — Cincinnati (27.2). "I don't think about it a ton because our guys are our guys," manager Terry Francona said. "They don't give you an extra half-run. I just think when you're competing, the game starts and you're trying to win. I don't really care about their age. "Sometimes I feel like we're playing against some teams that have got some grown-ups, you can see them. But you either play or you don't." Youth served the Guardians well last year on a surprising run to a Central Division title. Still, with young players, comes inexperience and growing pains. Cleveland has endured both this season. "I was talking with (Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton) and he was talking about, 'some nights (young players) make quick outs'," Francona said. "You never want to make an excuse for losing so you try to look at things logically. When you take a deep breath, you're like, 'OK, I see why this happened.' And I think sometimes with youth comes some of that. "But you don't want to just automatically go, 'well, we're young, we can't win.' No, that's not how we feel. I think sometimes our margin of error might be a little less, especially with guys getting injured and things like that. OK, so you try not to make errors." Different style With the game focused more than ever on power, speedy, defensive-minded center fielder Myles Straw doesn't follow the trend. "I think how we feel is, you take what you have and try to get the best out of what they do," Francona said of Straw, a Gold Glover last year who entered Tuesday batting .245 without a homer and a .312 on-base percentage over 98 games. "If Straw was a big, strong guy that hit 30 home runs, we'd want him to do that. OK, that's not who he is. "He plays the heck out of center field and he can really run, so we're trying to get him to use the whole field, maybe be a little more aggressive at the plate to try to turn some of that offense and make it a little stronger, but then use that defense, because the defense is so good." Doctor's office Right-hander Cal Quantrill will throw a bullpen session Wednesday at Progressive Field, but Francona didn't provide a set schedule for the next step. This is the second stint on the IL with right shoulder inflammation for Quantrill, who has made only two starts since May 30. Minor details High Class A Lake County infielder Dayan Frias was named Midwest League player of the week (July 18-23) after batting .434 (10-for-23) with a homer and seven RBIs. The undrafted free-agent signing in 2018 entered Tuesday hitting .271 with eight homers and 40 RBIs on the year. Double-A Akron OF Johnathan Rodriguez led Cleveland's minor-league system with 18 homers through Monday. The third-round draft pick in 2017 entered Tuesday batting .356 with 12 homers and 36 RBIs over his last 43 games. Triple-A Columbus infielder Brayan Rocchio owned a 14-game hitting streak through Monday. The undrafted free-agent acquisition in 2017, who has started three games for Cleveland, entered Tuesday batting .297 for the Clippers. Roundin' third Shortstop Amed Rosario recorded his 12th three-hit game of the season Monday, entering Tuesday tied with Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Yandy Diaz (Rays) and Bo Bichette (Blue Jays) for the most in the American League. It was the 74th career three-hit game for Rosario — 43rd with Cleveland (second-most in the majors behind Freddie Freeman (Braves) since 2021. … Guardians hitters owned the fewest strikeouts (698) in the majors through Monday. … Jose Ramirez entered Tuesday three games from passing Hall of Famer Larry Doby (1,235 games) for 17th place on Cleveland's all-time list. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @CAwesomeheimer.