It’s Roman Quinn’s spring training, we’re just living in it

I’m not here to tell you what to care or not care about in spring training, I’m just saying don’t be surprised if Roman Quinn isn’t actually Aaron Judge in the regular season. But at least watching him hit home runs now is fun, while we wait for real games to count. He added two more yesterday against the Rangers, bringing his spring total to three — which is 37% of his career home runs in the regular season.

Even if Quinn doesn’t crack the crowded Guardians roster, I’m happy for him that he’s getting this showcase for other potentially interested teams. He turns 30 in May and after several middling seasons with the Phillies, he seemed to find a morsel of success with the Rays in 2022. In 47 plate appearances, he finished with a .262/.340/.405 slash. Please ignore the 44.7% strikeout rate and .524 BABIP for the purposes of this feel-good paragraph.

Quinn is in camp as an external invite on a minor-league deal, so if he does push the issue and force his way into the Opening Day lineup, it’ll require a 40-man roster move.

Guardians 12, Cubs 4

Box Score | Game Thread
Roman Quinn joins Yu Chang in getting Cleveland fans way too excited about spring performances with his two home runs yesterday.

Cleveland Guardians news

Guardians Jose Ramirez doesn’t want to be rushed through his song or his at bat | Cleveland
I love José Ramírez of course, but players taking way too long to indulge in their walk-up songs has always been part of the pace problem, and it’s gotten worse in recent years. He’s a world-class athlete and will just quickly, I’m sure.

2023 Season Preview: Cleveland Guardians | Baseball Prospectus ($$$)
If you have a Baseball Prospectus subscription, they released their 2023 preview for the Guardians yesterday. BP and it’s PECOTA projections have José Ramírez at 5.1 WARP (their version of WAR) and an infield that Craig Goldstein calls “one of the better infield groups around.”

Around the league

• Gavin Lux suffered an ugly-looking leg injury yesterday.
• Seiya Suzuki pulled out of the WBC.
• Tyler Glasnow suffered an oblique injury.
• Juan Soto seems excited about the Padres.
• A deep dive on dominant catchers.