Versatile Freeman gets back to basics with bat

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Tyler Freeman was Mr. Do It All defensively for the Guardians last season, and he has the glove collection to prove it.

“Too many,” Freeman said, laughing. “Gosh, I have both my middle-infield gloves, a third-base glove, an outfield glove.”

That’s emblematic of Freeman’s role early in his big league career. The 25-year-old has played every position but catcher and right field. Last season, he spent most of his time in center field (731 innings over 97 games) after previously never playing there professionally.

Versatility is a great asset for the Guardians. It allows them to mix and match players to get the most out of their roster. Freeman is also one of a handful of guys in the mix for the starting job at second base after Cleveland’s offseason trade of Andrés Giménez.

The way Freeman sees it, wherever and however the Guardians need him, he’ll be ready.

“Obviously, second base is open this year,” Freeman said. “We lost a really talented guy, but that opens up opportunities for us young guys. If second base is it, that's great. If not, I'll keep bouncing around wherever they want me to.

“In my [MLB] debut, I started at third base. I never played third base religiously, ever. Wherever they want me to play, I'm open arms with it, and it's just something like in practice. One day I'll work at second and short. Some days I'll work in the outfield. Just always trying to improve the defensive side.”

Offensively, Freeman is feeling more like himself this spring, something he couldn’t always say in recent seasons.

“I feel like the past few years, I kind of got away from myself trying to be someone I wasn't,” Freeman said. “I know part of this game is to hit the ball harder, to try to hit more homers. But I think that kind of got to me a little bit the last few years -- changing my approach and, honestly, just trying to do way too much with my swing.

“... Trying to get on base, letting guys [drive] me in. I think just being shorter to the ball has helped me be back who I was before.”

Freeman played a career-high 118 games last season, his third in the Majors, and carried a slash line of .209/.305/.321.

“Free worked really hard this winter just to get back to being Free,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Last year, we put him through a lot … asking him to learn a new position on the fly. And then we put him back into a utility role and then hitting leadoff, hitting down in the order, facing just lefties, facing both.

“I think for Free, it's staying diligent to who you are, staying stubborn to who you are. What Free is doing really well right now is he's driving the ball out over the plate, and that's his strength.”

Sabrowski sidelined
Reliever Erik Sabrowski wasn’t experiencing pain or a velocity drop as he was building up last month. But “something started to feel not right,” he said. An evaluation by Dr. Keith Meister on Thursday revealed the left-hander has left elbow inflammation. He is expected to miss the start of the regular season.

“This is something that has happened before,” Sabrowski said. “I just have the inflammation in my joint. Structurally, we're all good. The ligament’s fine. It’s probably a byproduct of having a couple elbow surgeries, where sometimes the joint gets a little beat up.”

Sabrowski had Tommy John surgery twice (in 2018 and ’21 while in the Padres’ farm system), so he and the Guardians are taking a prudent approach. All things considered, he feels fortunate Meister found only inflammation.

“I think this is something where maybe if I had pitched through, we'd be having a different conversation in May or June,” Sabrowski said. “But I want to pitch in October again. … You want to be there to help with the team, but it's a long season.”

Roster reduced
The Guardians made their first roster cuts of Spring Training on Saturday. They optioned right-handers ??Franco Aleman, Nic Enright and Daniel Espino to Triple-A Columbus. Outfielders Chase DeLauter and George Valera were reassigned to Minor League camp.

All five players are sidelined due to injuries. Cleveland has 61 players in Major League camp.