The Cleveland Indians signed Brandon Guyer to a two-year contract with a club option for the 2019 season.
Guyer will likely serve as a platoon corner outfielder with Lonnie Chisenhall, but given the uncertainty of Michael Brantley’s rehab, he could be the next man up to start left field if Brantley were to miss any time.
The Indians announced the signing in a press release below:
CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Indians today signed OF BRANDON GUYER to a two-year contract with a club option for the 2019 season.
Guyer, who turns 31 on January 28, spent the last two months of the 2016 season with the Indians, batting .333 (27-81) with 5 doubles, 2 home runs and 14 RBI in 38 games at the corner outfield positions (.438/.469/.907) after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays on August 1. Combined on the season between the two stops, he batted .266 (78-293) with 17 2B, 9 HR & 32 RBI in 101 games (.372/.423/.795). Against left-handed pitching in 2016, he hit .336 (41-122), the 6th-highest mark in the American League, while his .464 on-base pct. vs. LHP led the entire circuit. He went on to hit .333 (6-18) in the Postseason and reached base safely in exactly half of his Postseason plate appearances (12 times; 24 PA, .500 OB).
The Herndon, VA native and University of Virginia alum began his professional career in the Chicago Cubs organization in 2007 before being traded to Tampa Bay prior to the 2011 campaign. He appeared in 306 games across five seasons with the Rays (2011-16) prior to his August 1 acquisition by Cleveland.
For his career, the right-handed hitter owns a .288 batting average against lefties.
Along with those numbers, Guyer led MLB in the number of times being hit by pitches since 2015, as he was hit 31 times in 2016 and 24 in 2015, the most in the American League in each of the two seasons.
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