Fry redeems himself after costly miscue in right field

CLEVELAND -- The Guardians knew they were taking a chance when they put infielder David Fry in right field on Saturday. After a costly miscue in the first inning, he proved he was worth trusting.

Fry bounced back from an error on the third batter of the game to play a solid right field before he delivered the go-ahead RBI single into left field in the sixth that helped lift the Guardians to a 4-2 victory over the Brewers at Progressive Field.

Fry isn’t a right fielder. He’s a corner infielder with the ability to squat behind the plate when needed. The Guardians were in a tough spot because right fielder Will Brennan has been out the last few days with a sore shoulder. Gabriel Arias filled in over the last few days, but Guardians manager Terry Francona wanted to give Arias a break, as he is in a 1-for-14 slump.

“Sometimes with young guys, you struggle to make some adjustments,” Francona said.

Francona knew that Brennan would probably be available sometime after first pitch. He had gone through a series of workouts pregame to make sure that his shoulder was cleared for action. Francona said they wanted him to completely cool down before he’d be available. That took him out of consideration for at least the first few innings.

So, Francona considered Fry to take on the challenge. He hasn’t played the outfield since he was in Milwaukee’s system in 2021, and even that year, he only played seven games in the outfield (one in right). But Francona knows how versatile Fry is and he went to his outfield coach, JT Maguire, to see if he thought Fry would be able to do it.

“[Maguire] goes, ‘No problem. [Fry] comes out with me all the time. He’ll be fine,’” Francona said before the game. “I was like, ‘OK, let’s let him play.’ He’ll compete and he won’t back down.”

When Francona mentioned it to Fry, he didn’t hesitate.

“He brought it up [Friday] in the dugout when I was actually about to go pinch-hit,” Fry said. “I was like, ‘All right, sweet, let’s do it. Why not?’ I was more excited for the opportunity and just try to play as many spots as possible.”

Fast forward a few hours later to the first inning of Saturday’s game and the ball immediately found Fry. Brewers leadoff man Chrisitan Yelich singled his way on base in the first inning and was able to move to second on a wild pitch. And with him in scoring position, he easily crossed the plate when Fry ran into trouble on a line drive toward right-center field.

Rowdy Tellez sent a 103.8 mph missile Fry’s way in right field. He had to take a few steps over to his right and was right in front of the ball when he reached his glove forward to make the catch. The line drive had a 75% catch probability, according to Statcast. Instead, the ball went right past his mitt and rolled all the way to the wall, sending Fry on a chase after it.

“He kind of hit a knuckler,” Fry said. “ ... It kind of knuckled and dropped right in front of me and I missed it.”

“That’s probably not what you’re hoping for in your first game [in a different defensive position] -- a [103.8] mph knuckleball,” Francona said, “which is a lot harder to catch than people probably realize.”

Fry redeemed himself with each ball that came his way after the first inning. But he truly made up for the error in the sixth inning, when he sent a 0-1 pitch into left field with runners on first and second to give the Guardians the lead.

“You try to just move on and put it behind you but you definitely think about it, kind of making up for it,” Fry said. “So, it was nice to get that hit.”

Despite what role that’s been thrown at him, Fry has done everything he can to be impactful for Cleveland, which isn’t easy for a younger player in this position. In his last nine games, he has gone 7-for-12 with a double, a homer and four RBIs. And the Guardians learned on Saturday that he’s up for any challenge.

“If you ask [Columbus manager Andy Tracy] about this kid, you could stay on the phone for a long time. And by that, he just raves about him,” Francona said. “He competes really well. He never complains. He hasn’t played very much [in the Majors], but he’s always ready."