Outfielder Petey Halpin becoming a favorite in Guardians clubhouse

CLEVELAND — Brayan Rocchio, Travis Bazzana, Petey Halpin, Patrick Bailey and Rhys Hoskins all hit home runs in a historical night at Progressive Field on Monday night. No one drew more cheers from the Guardians' dugout than Halpin. The hard-working rookie outfielder has become a clubhouse favorite, bringing an energy and exuberance that has endeared him to his teammates. "We love Petey," manager Stephen Vogt said. "Petey's a hard worker. He brings a lot of life and energy to this team — great teammate, cares about winning, cares about his teammates more than anything." They care about Halpin, too. "I feel like if you ask anyone around here, he's still so young and he's only been here for a little bit, but what he means to the clubhouse, I mean he definitely uplifts everyone," starting pitcher Tanner Bibee said. "He wasn't playing there for a little bit and you didn't hear him say a peep about playing time or anything like that. "Even when he got sent down (to Triple-A Columbus), he came right back up and he went right about his business. It's really cool to see him do that. You saw how excited he was around the bases and then in the dugout, he's awesome. Super happy for him." Halpin might have been a little too excited after hitting the first of two career homers in the second inning of Cleveland's 13-4 win over the Twins on Monday. Upon returning to the dugout after rounding the bases, he was caught on camera slapping hitting coach Grant Fink in the face. It was planned, so Fink knew it was coming, but Vogt did not. "I didn't know about it until right after it went out of the ballpark and Grant said, 'Oh no, I'm going to get slapped,'" Vogt said. "And then I saw it as (Halpin) ran by, I said, 'You better do it hard.' And he did. That was a funny moment for sure." Halpin, 24, is known more for his defense and baserunning, but he worked on his hitting in the offseason and recently made some mechanical adjustments with Fink. Though he entered Tuesday batting .222 in 34 games, Halpin had hits in each of his last five games, going 5-for-11 with two doubles, two homers and three RBIs over his last three games. "Obviously, we know what he can do defensively and, on the bases, and that's kind of been his role," Vogt said. "He's getting an opportunity to play right now and he's taking advantage. I know it's been three games, but we're seeing him use the whole field. We're seeing him drive the ball, shorter swing. "And so to see that kind of, 'I'm going to commit to that for a few games,' and to see him getting results and hitting the ball harder to the middle of the field … it's really fun when you see a player commit to something and then go do it. That's the best feeling in the world for a coach." "I'm just trying to shorten up, hit the ball where I'm getting it, not trying to do too much with it, stick to the approach and really just try to get on base as much as I can," Halpin said. "Put the ball in play, ball forward, do the job for the guys behind me." Halpin is in his third stint with the Guardians this season after making his MLB and postseason debut last year. He took a step to sticking around with a big game Monday. "I think having a night like that kind o0f gives you some confidence that, 'Hey man, I belong here. I can be the guy in a game at the highest level in the whole world,'" Hoskins said. "And hopefully he takes that confidence and runs with it." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.