Everything We Know About Gabriel Arias' Injury With the Cleveland Guardians

It has been quite a bit of time since Cleveland Guardians infielder Gabriel Arias has stepped foot on the diamond.

Back on April 6, in a matchup against the Kansas City Royals, Arias ripped a double to put the Guardians in a good position to keep the offense rolling. Leading up to that moment, Arias had been producing some good at-bats for the team.

But running into second, Arias grabbed at his lower body and was in some serious discomfort.

Later tests revealed that the shortstop had suffered a moderate left hamstring strain, which put him on the injured list. Initially, all signs pointed towards a four-eight week recovery, but a recent update from manager Stephen Vogt shared that he would be out longer than the team had thought.

Before the Guardians were set to take on the Minnesota Twins just a few days ago for a series opener on Friday, May 8, he explained that a setback in his rehabilitation process had occurred.

"Gabby [Gabriel Arias] is gonna be a little bit longer," Vogt said in his pregame press conference. "He hit a little snag... definitely, his rehab got slowed down."

Coming back from a lower-body injury like the one Arias suffered is never an easy task, especially doing it quickly. While he had been seen working out at Progressive Field, taking ground balls and going through general fielding drills, he obviously isn't ready yet for live, in-game action.

A Path Ahead For Cleveland

After Arias was placed on the injured list, the front office turned to infielder Juan Brito.

The Triple-A stud had begun the season raking down in the minor league system, earning a call-up to at least test the waters. Unfortunately, while he looked sharp in his debut, a combination of defensive miscues and offensive inconsistencies plagued the rest of his time up in the bigs.

Across 15 games and 51 at-bats, he posted just nine hits for three RBI, all while walking just four times and striking out 17. He probably could've been better with a longer stint, but with Cleveland being competitive in the American League, the Guardians couldn't risk taking a deeper drop in the middle infield.

In turn, they went with former No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana, who, since his debut just a few weeks ago, has been a nice sigh of relief for Cleveland. Not only has he been reliable defensively, but he has been getting on base at an impressive rate.

He currently has 12 walks to seven strikeouts, sporting a .211 batting average with six RBI in the process. He also crushed his first big-league home run back on Friday.

Recently, counterpart Brayan Rocchio has shared praise for Bazzana, with the two forming a nice duo down the middle.

"For me, it is simple," Rocchio said after Monday night's win over the Angels. "I am just trying to help him to be the best in the infield. I am trying to be the leader like Hosey [Jose Ramirez] told me... that is what I am trying to do with Bazzana and help him to feel comfortable."

For the team, this is obviously a great sign for things to come, but for Arias, further setbacks and less time on the field are hurting his chances at having a starting spot.

The only hope is that when he does return, which could be just a few more weeks or a couple of months at this point, he can bring with him that early-season offense he was showcasing before his injury.

Cleveland needs a bit more fluidity with the bats, and with Bazzana and Rocchio providing a strong offense right now, he will need to come back with a head full of steam to protect his roster spot.

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