SAN DIEGO -- For those inclined to fret about the Guardians¡¯ offensive slumber during a three-game sweep at the hands of the Padres, Nolan Jones has some perspective.
¡°We¡¯re six games in,¡± Jones reminded.
Meaning, a Major League season is a long haul. And a good Major League team is built for the long haul. Yes, the Guardians¡¯ 5-2 loss Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park wasn¡¯t one for the highlight reel, but it was another mile marker on the 2025 Guardians¡¯ journey.
For one, Jones continued to reintegrate with his old/new team, hitting a booming double off a mostly dominant Padres starter Dylan Cease and making a diving catch in right field. For another, Kyle Manzardo made his first defensive appearance of the year at first base as Guardians manager Stephen Vogt takes care not to pigeonhole him as a designated hitter.
¡°We¡¯re going to continue working,¡± said Vogt, whose club scored a mere four runs across three games in San Diego. ¡°This was a three-game series where we got beat three days in a row. We¡¯ll use the off-day to refocus and be ready to go.¡±
Vogt just might learn something about his 2025 squad during the upcoming weekend series in Anaheim, observing how the rejiggered Guards respond. He already has seen plenty from Jones so far.
¡°We all know Nolan can play,¡± Vogt said. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see him getting comfortable with us. ¡ Really like Nolan¡¯s approach. He hits the ball hard, great plate discipline. We just want him to continue to be himself and get comfortable.¡±
The Guardians reacquired Jones from the Rockies on March 22 as Spring Training neared its end. The fact he came up through the Cleveland organization -- MLB Pipeline rated him as the organization¡¯s top prospect in 2021 -- helped him adjust to the new surroundings.
Six games into their regular season, Jones has three hits in 15 at-bats. But two of those hits came on Wednesday -- a double into the right-center field gap, 107.2 mph off the bat in the fourth inning, and an opposite-field single off Cease in the seventh.
Jones is playing mostly right field with the Guardians after being tasked with covering the expanses of left field at Coors Field the past couple seasons. His arm is his show-off tool on defense, but he snared a sinking liner off the bat of Xander Bogaerts in the third inning while leaving his feet.
¡°As far as the guys here,¡± Jones said, ¡°I feel like I was accepted pretty quickly. I kept in contact with a lot of these guys. Just a bunch of good people here, the coaching staff included. I had a lot of these coaches coming up in the Minor Leagues.
¡°I was pretty shocked when this [trade] happened a few days before Opening Day, having to go to a new clubhouse and meet 60 people. But seeing some familiar faces, I felt comfortable pretty quickly. Baseball-wise, I¡¯m getting there.¡±
Guardians starting pitcher Ben Lively, who breezed through the lineup the first time through before the Padres posted four runs with two outs in the third inning, said Jones is a welcome addition. And not just because of that catch on Bogaerts to end the third.
¡°Dude¡¯s a gamer and ready to go,¡± Lively said. ¡°He¡¯s been fired up the whole time he¡¯s been here. It¡¯s cool because it fires me up.¡±
As for Manzardo, his top defensive moment came in the sixth inning. He ranged far to his right to field a ground ball hit by Jose Iglesias and then made a long underhand feed to pitcher Cade Smith covering first base. In the fateful third inning, Manzardo came off the bag to stop an errant throw by third baseman Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez, but the ball bounced high and into foul territory, allowing a run to score.
Manzardo, ranked as the Guardians¡¯ No. 2 prospect last year before breaking into the big leagues, leads the team with two home runs and seven RBIs. His bat will keep him in the lineup. That will include more appearances at first base.
¡°The thing that¡¯s really impressed me with Kyle is that he¡¯s gotten very little playing time in the field at the big league level,¡± Vogt said. ¡°But that hasn¡¯t slowed down his work, that hasn¡¯t stopped the tremendous amount of effort he puts in. You see the growth. He moves so much smoother.¡±