Will Guardians bring Big Christmas to postseason party?

CLEVELAND -- Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Jhonkensy Noel hoped he could one day become a Major League Baseball player. His family had seen it with his step brother, Victor Igsema, who was in the Pirates’ system. Noel dreamed he could do it, too.

Little did he know that he’d become Big Christmas.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Noel was 12 years old, working out at the Dominican Academy, trying to put himself on the map. When he was 13, he represented his hometown, San Pedro, in a local tournament that pinned him against now-teammate Angel Martínez, who represented Santo Domingo. Noel laughed thinking back to that time.

“I was a little skinny, but I always had big legs,” Noel said with a big smile. "My legs come from my mom’s legs.”

Momma Noel turned her son into a 6-foot-3-inch menace in the batter’s box. He grew up idolizing David Ortiz, and he just wanted his own chance to make a name for himself.

“I always had a lot of power,” Noel said. “I was hitting a lot of opposite-field line drives. But when I started to get big big, they had me trying to pull the ball.”

As more power was born, more attention came his way. He was signed by Cleveland in 2021 and had an outstanding first year in professional baseball. But the next two seasons came with hurdles. In 2022, he had 150 strikeouts in 133 Minor League games. In ’23, he stuck out 145 times in 138 games. The Guardians needed to see more plate discipline, even if his power numbers -- including 59 combined homers in '22-23 -- were enticing.

So, he put in extra work over the offseason, and it paid off.

In the first 65 games of the year with Triple-A Columbus, Noel made quite a statement. His strikeouts were down a smidge. His average sat at .295 and his OPS was .937. He smacked 18 homers and knocked in 59 runs. The Guardians couldn’t ignore him any longer.

He got the call. And in his first at-bat in the Majors, he hit a home run. That’s when Big Christmas was born.

It’s a nickname that was given to him by his manager, Stephen Vogt. When your last name is Noel and you’re as big as he is, it’s not hard to figure out the origin of the moniker. But Noel loves it and admits that he thoroughly enjoys fans referring to him as Big Christmas.

“They always clap for me when I go hit,” Noel said. “I feel wonderful when they do that.”

Noel has had stretches of success in the Majors. Aside from that first big swing, he hit three homers in two days in the middle of August. Later that month, he enjoyed an 8-for-20 stint. But September wasn’t as kind to him. He batted just .118 with a .363 OPS and zero homers in 21 games.

“He had a massive impact for us when he came up,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “But he’d be the first to tell you that there’s work to do to refine.”

The Guardians haven’t yet set their ALDS roster. We don’t know for sure that Noel will be on it, given his skid over the last month. But the threat of his bat may be scary enough to carry anyway. All it will take is one pitch to catch too much of the plate and Noel could find his groove, considering this is a hitter who sent his second career homer 450 feet. If he can lay off pitches outside of the zone, he could be an unexpected hero for this lineup.

“Every time he’s at-bat, it feels like he’s gonna hit a home run or hit the ball so hard,” Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan said. “We couldn’t be here without him.”

Noel wants to be able to deliver on the biggest stage, introducing a national audience to the excitement that is Big Christmas. He wants to perform in front of his father, who is making his first trip to the United States to watch Noel in the playoffs.

But Noel doesn’t want to do this for fame or attention that he’d inevitably receive in his hometown. He simply wants to be a playoff hero and quietly go back home to relish, alone, what this season meant.

“I’m always a quiet guy,” Noel said. “I told [my dad], ‘Hey, I’m not the president. You’ll pick me up [from the airport] and take me home. I’ll go to sleep.’”

Back in the bed where this entire dream started.