Guardians Place Gabriel Arias On 10-Day IL, Recall Juan Brito

The Guardians announced this morning that they have placed Gabriel Arias on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. To replace Arias on the roster, the team recalled fellow infielder Juan Brito from Triple-A Columbus. Brito will make his major league debut in today’s game against the Royals, playing second base and batting sixth (per MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins). Guardians Prospective reported last night that Brito would be getting the call.

Arias, 26, took over as Cleveland’s primary shortstop last season and held onto the role entering 2026, starting at short in 10 of his team’s first 11 games. His offense leaves much to be desired – he owns a career .632 OPS and 76 wRC+ in 330 games – but he has proven to be a capable defender, with 2 DRS and 7 OAA in 1,484 innings at shortstop. Arias exited early yesterday with hamstring tightness and went for an MRI. The Guardians have yet to offer further details about the severity of his injury, but evidently, they decided he’ll need to miss at least the next 10 days.

In place of Arias, Brayan Rocchio is likely to take over at shortstop. Rocchio, 25, was Cleveland’s regular shortstop in 2024 and early 2025 before moving to second base. Like Arias, he has yet to show he can make much of an impact at the plate (career .622 OPS, 78 wRC+ in 292 games), but he was a Gold Glove finalist at shortstop in 2024 after posting 11 DRS and 5 OAA in 1,102 innings.

As for Brito, it looks like he will get a chance to prove himself at the keystone. The 24-year-old is generally considered one of the Guardians’ top 20 prospects. MLB Pipeline ranked him No. 16, while Baseball America put him at No. 15 and Baseball Prospectus at No. 14. The Athletic’s Keith Law was a little more optimistic about Brito, ranking him at No. 9 before the season, while FanGraphs was less sold, placing him all the way down at No. 32 on their organizational list. He may have been difficult for some to rank entering the year because he missed most of 2025 with injuries, and because his future defensive home is still unclear. Those who are higher on Brito see him as a capable everyday second baseman, while others envision him as more of a utility player. He has hit consistently well at Triple-A in parts of several seasons, with 24 home runs, a 13.9% walk rate, and an .811 OPS in 182 games. A switch-hitter, Brito doesn’t necessarily need to be platooned, but the lefty-batting Daniel Schneemann and fellow switch-hitter Angel Martínez can also play second base if needed. Meanwhile, top prospect Travis Bazzana will stay at Triple-A for now, but he is certainly a candidate to play second base for the Guardians at some point in 2026.