How Guardians will determine where J-Ram will hit in lineup

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- With a new manager in charge, no one can assume that what’s been done over the past few years will continue to be the path the team takes. When the regular season gets here, Stephen Vogt’s preferences will be on full display. But we can also try to learn about his plans now.

Let’s start with the batting order.

We know Steven Kwan will be starting in left field and batting leadoff. But where does Vogt think José Ramírez fits in behind him? Should he hit second? Should he hit third?

“I've talked with Josey about it,” Vogt said. “Wherever he feels most comfortable. Honestly, what it's going to be is once we know what our team looks like on any given night, what puts us in the best position to beat the starter.”

Sometimes that means hitting him second. Sometimes that could mean hitting him third. Unlike what Guardians fans had become accustomed to over the last few years, seeing guys hitting in the same spot in the order religiously, Vogt doesn’t seem married to the idea that guys can’t move around in the lineup. That is, as long as they’re comfortable with the flexibility. And they’re going to use this spring, hitting him second some days and third on others, to make sure Ramírez is.

“Just wanting to make sure he's comfortable and confident in either spot,” Vogt said, “because there's some days where the lineup is gonna be better with him in second and there's gonna be some days where the lineup's better with him in third, and just hopefully he feels comfortable with either one.”

In this case, Vogt wants Ramírez to be heavily involved in the decision.

“I always say treat them fairly not equally. And Josey has earned that,” Vogt said. “If he wants to hit second or third, I'm going to work with him. But at the same time, we've already had that talk of let's be open to it. And he is."

Live batting practice
In the second day of workouts, the Guardians rolled through rounds of live batting practice off of Carlos Carrasco, Anthony Gose, Xzavion Curry, Sam Hentges, Triston McKenzie and others. But what stood out the most was Emmanuel Clase’s turn on the rubber.

A handful of hitters rotated into the batter’s box to face the hard-throwing closer. Will Brennan made some solid contact against Clase, but he was dominant against nearly everyone else. That includes his marquee matchup against Austin Hedges.

• How Hedges stole the show at the Guardians' charity chess tournament

Hedges fell behind in the count, but that didn’t stop his chirping. Clase, who’s usually stoic (if not fierce) on the mound, couldn’t help but laugh at Hedges’ ridiculousness during the entire at-bat. Hedges battled his way back into the at-bat, fouling off pitches and taking balls (which included yelling at the robot umpire to make sure the pitches he thought were balls, were called properly) to eventually reach a 3-2 count.

Clase released his final pitch on the outside corner of the plate, sending Hedges back to the dugout after watching the perfect strike-three offering travel into the catcher’s mitt. He screamed on his way out of the batter’s box, prompting Clase to laugh more. When Hedges left the field to head to another drill station, he told his coaches, “I made [Clase] better!”

There was no data public to bystanders to know how hard Clase was throwing or what pitches he was turning to. All we can trust is Hedges claiming that his trash talk forced Clase to unleash some mid-season nastiness before Cactus League games had even begun. And for that, Hedges is proud.

What matters most
So what will Vogt be looking for when these Spring Training games get underway on Saturday? Well, it certainly won’t be in-game stats.

“I think other things more so than stats,” Vogt said. “There’s always one story every spring where somebody hits 10 home runs and then they start the season not so well. And then somebody who has a bad spring and they're hot when the season starts.

“It’s commitment to the adjustments that you made and are making is what we really want to see. I think whether or not a guy is striking out or lining out or flying out or getting squib hits, at the end of the day, that doesn't tell the whole story. It's the work they're putting in on the backfield.”