Rosario's value on display in latest 3-hit performance

CLEVELAND -- Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario doesn’t have the flashiest style of play. He ranks in the bottom half of the league in more Statcast categories than he does in the top half. Most of his stats aren’t attention-grabbing.

And yet, he’s one of the most critical pieces in Cleveland’s lineup.

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Rosario proved it once again in Tuesday’s 5-3 victory over the Royals at Progressive Field, logging his 17th three-hit game of the season. This is nothing new. Rosario has been essential to this team’s success for the last two seasons. His defense prompted questions of whether he could be a long-term fit with the Guardians since so many of their top prospects are middle infielders. But so many other aspects of his game made him impossible to ignore.

“He's a big part of what we're doing,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “Without him, you can say it about a lot of guys, but he's very important to what we're doing.”

Let’s take a look at three reasons why the Guardians should be able to lean on Rosario throughout the playoffs:

1. Hits
This sounds simple, but there’s much more to Rosario’s high hit total. When he gets one, he usually doesn’t stop there. His 17 three-hit games this season are the second most in the Majors, trailing just Freddie Freeman (19). It’s also the most by a Cleveland player since José Ramírez in 2017 (21). He’s been consistent with racking up multi-hit games since he joined the organization at the beginning of last season, owning the most three-hit performances (31) in the American League since the start of 2021.

His 179 hits are the most by a Guardians player this season. They’ve led to a solid .283 average that nearly matches his expected batting average (.274, entering Tuesday). Expected batting average takes a batted ball’s exit velocity and launch angle and calculates whether it “should” be a hit. Sometimes shifts, outstanding plays or miscues can cause this number to be higher or lower than the actual batting average. When the two are close to matching, it essentially means that Rosario “deserves” the average that he boasts, meaning it’s more likely that level of success will continue and he’s not just running into a ton of luck.

Rosario's hits usually stay within the ballpark. He’s not a tremendous power hitter, but he’s been able to clear the fence 11 times this season. He’s nearly doubled the number of balls he’s barreled this season, and his barrel percentage has jumped from 2.8% last year to 4.4% this year.

“You look at the OPS and it might not jump off the map, but he does so many things to help us win,” Francona said.

2. Strikeout percentage
Rosario ranks in the 78th percentile in strikeout percentage this season, which is solid, but not in the elite category. However, this was a huge step forward for him, considering it marks the lowest percentage of his career. Over the last two years, Rosario's K% floated above 20%. Now, he’s worked his way down to 16.6%, which steers right into the team’s approach of simply putting the ball in play.

The Guardians knew this would have to be their approach this year. They don’t have big power hitters to carry them with the long ball. Instead, Francona looked to Ramírez and Rosario as the veterans of this offense to set the tone by playing small ball and focusing on putting the ball in play. Rosario’s dramatic drop in strikeout percentage proves he was able to buy into this concept.

3. Speed
Speed is often an underrated quality for a player. For Rosario, it’s one of his best assets.

Rosario ranks in the 96th percentile in sprint speed. His hits don’t always need to find gaps. If he puts the ball in play, he can force defenses to make errors by rushing to get him out before he motors down the line. He’s had 23 infield hits this season, which is the third most in the Majors.

Rosario also ranks third in bolts, which is Statcast’s metric for competitive runs above 30 feet per second (elite speed). He’s logged 87 bolts this season, trailing just Trea Turner (127) and Bobby Witt Jr. (104).

Even on nights when other aspects of his game are off, Rosario can always cause havoc on the bases with his speed.

“His motor is constant,” Francona said. “There's a reason we feel the way we do about him and he's worked really hard at short to become really dependable.”