Will Brennan DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

According to Mandy Bell of MLB.com, the Cleveland Guardians will likely have a rotating door in right field to start the 2025 season. Bell noted that Jhonkensy Noel and Will Brennan would likely operate in a platoon role to begin the season as they did throughout most of the second half of the 2024 season. Across 64 games, Noel posted a .218/.288/.486 slash line with 13 home runs. Under the hood, Noel flashed upside power as he generated a 14.5 percent barrel rate. However, he held a hefty 31.8 percent strikeout rate. Brennan held a .264/.309/.388 slash line across 114 games with just eight home runs and four stolen bases. Unlike Noel, Brennan showed a strong eye at the plate with a 13.6 percent strikeout rate but struggled to generate much power as he posted a 4.6 percent barrel rate. Fantasy managers should only target Noel and Brennan in deeper formats, as their upside will be limited due to sharing playing time.

Cleveland Guardians outfielder Will Brennan remains out of the starting nine for Game 5 of the ALCS. Brennan has made only two starts this entire postseason so far, one in each series. As a result, Jhonkensy Noel will cover right field and bat in the six-hole. Brennan has carried an underwhelming .167 AVG throughout the postseason with four strikeouts. Noel has begun to heat up at the plate after going hitless during the ALDS. In the ALCS, Noel has gone 2-for-4 with a two-run shot but faces a difficult matchup on Saturday evening against Carlos Rodon, who allowed just one run in his previous outing.

Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor and outfielder Will Brennan will start on the bench again in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Friday at Progressive Field against the New York Yankees with right-hander Luis Gil on the mound. Cleveland will stick with Austin Hedges behind the plate, and he will bat eighth, while rookie Daniel Schneemann will make his second straight start in right field and bat sixth. Naylor picked up a hit as a pinch-hitter in the Game 3 win on Thursday but has gone 1-for-15 overall with four strikeouts in his first eight playoff games. Brennan also picked up a pinch hit on Thursday for his second knock in 11 at-bats this October. Hedges has gone 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his career against Gil, while Schneeman has a single and RBI in two at-bats this year versus Gil.