Guardians notes: Daniel Schneemann making most of his MLB opportunity

CLEVELAND — It took Daniel Schneemann a long time to realize his dream of playing the majors, but he's made the most of the opportunity since his arrival with the Guardians. Schneemann, 28, made his big league debut with Cleveland last year, performing well enough to find a spot on the postseason roster. This year, he's earned regular playing time, entering the series opener against the Phillies on Friday batting .286 with a .939 OPS, five home runs and 11 RBIs over 28 games. Manager Stephen Vogt, who didn't make his MLB debut until he was 28, can relate to Schneemann's journey. "There's a little soft spot in my heart for the 27-year-old who's never been in the big leagues, but he can play," Vogt said of Schneemann, who was selected by Cleveland in the 33rd round of the 2018 draft. "There's some guys where maybe you can't quantify it or you can't look at numbers that are gonna tell you that they're a good player, but you just watch the way they move, the way they go about their business, they're gamers. That's Schnee. That's what stood out about Schnee." Schneemann is coming off a highly successful road trip, where he went 7-for-19 with three homers and seven RBIs over six games. Included was a two-homer, five-RBI game last Saturday in which he drove in all of the runs in a win over the Blue Jays. Over his last 20 games through Thursday, Schneemann was batting .373 with a 1.144 OPS, four doubles, five homers and 10 RBIs. His OPS was the third-best in the majors over the span behind the Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (1.195) and the Yankees' Aaron Judge (1.252). He's thrived defensively, too. "We played him at second, short, third, center (in spring training last year), didn't matter where we put him, he made the plays," Vogt said. "And his instincts, he's played left field twice this whole year and he makes a diving catch to end the game the other day. This is a baseball player." Lane Train Vogt is optimistic that center fielder Lane Thomas will begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. Thomas has been sidelined since April 19. "He's pain-free. Now, he just feels like he needs to get his strength back," Vogt said. "We're hoping, if everything continues to go well over the weekend, that at some point next week he'll go out." An 'A' for Arias Gabriel Arias has been able to maintain his fast start to the season, entering Friday batting .287 with four homers and 16 RBIs in 35 games. "Gabby showed up a very different person from last year," Vogt said. "His reflections from the 2024 season were a complete 180 from the person we interacted with last year. He came in with a new focus, and he's like, 'I want to earn more opportunities. I want to play every day. I want to go out and fight.' And he's just playing. He's free. "He's playing Gold Glove defense at second base, shortstop and third base. He's finding ways to get hits, he's finding ways to get on base and he's driving the baseball, he's walking. Gabby is off to a tremendous start, and we would not be where we are today without him." Arias had a career-high four hits in Wednesday's 8-6 win over the Nationals and had reached base in 25 of his 31 starts through Thursday. He entered Friday ranking sixth in the American League with a .435 (10-for-23) average with runners in scoring position and first with a .478 (11-for-23) average on the first pitch. Roundin' third Vogt confirmed that right-hander Luis Ortiz will start Sunday in the series finale against the Phillies. The Guardians entered Friday ranked third in the AL with 83 runs scored in the sixth inning or later. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.