David

Fry

Ugh. This one is a significant development for fantasy managers as Fry will be sidelined until at least early May, even in a best-case scenario. The 28-year-old backstop was a key component of Cleveland’s surprising ALCS run this past season, belting a career-high 14 homers in 122 games. His catcher-eligibility made him a mixed-league relevant option in the late stages of 2025 fantasy drafts, but this latest development likely knocks him outside the top 20 backstops going into the year.

Fry dealt with elbow issues late in the season that limited him to the designated hitter position. The 28-year-old was a breakout player for the Guardians in 2025 and hit a game-winning homer in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Yankees, but it’s possible he may need to undergo an operation that could limit his availability to begin 2025. That’s purely speculative, and fantasy managers should have more clarity by the end of October.

Fry pinch-hit in the seventh inning and walked. In the 10th inning, he hit a walkoff two-run home run off Clay Holmes to seal the Guardians’ victory in Game 3. It’s Fry’s second home run of the playoffs and the other was also a game-winning home run that came against Detroit in Game 4 of the ALDS. Fry will likely start Friday’s game on the bench with the Yankees starting right-hander Luis Gil, but he’s already proven that he can be a weapon as a pinch hitter in the late innings.

Fry pinch hit for Kyle Manzardo with a man on base and two outs in the seventh inning. The Tigers brought in reliever Beau Brieske, who hadn’t allowed a hit yet in the playoffs. Fry quickly changed that with a two-run home run that gave the Guardians the lead. In the ninth inning, Fry laid down a sacrifice bunt on a perfectly executed squeeze play to give Cleveland a much-needed insurance run. Fry is likely to be in the starting lineup in Game 5 as the Tigers will go with the left-handed Tarik Skubal on the mound.

Manzardo will get his first start of the postseason after two appearances as a pinch-hitter in the first two series. The 24-year-old gets the start with David Fry moving to the bench. Will Brennan also gets the start in right field with Jhonkensy Noel moving to the bench after starting the first two games. The full lineup against Keider Montero and the Detroit bullpen: LF Steven Kwan, DH Manzardo, 3B Jose Ramirez, 1B Josh Naylor, Lane Thomas CF, 2B Andrés Giménez, RF Brennan, C Bo Naylor and SS Brayan Roccio.

The Guardians actually went the entire final month of the season without facing a lefty, and Fry’s start today was his first since Sept. 18. He got the nod even though the lefty was only an opener, and fortunately, he remained in after singling off Holton in the first and later had a two-run double off Ty Madden, producing Cleveland’s only runs after the first inning. The Guardians did pinch-hit for him in the eighth, but that was mostly about letting Kyle Manzardo get his feet wet. Fry will almost surely get another start over Manzardo on Monday against Tarik Skubal.

Fry now has 11 home runs and 40 RBI on the season and has been a tremendous story. However, the production has really tapered off. Coming into today, he was hitting just .217/.283/.312 in 51 games since June 1st with two home runs and 12 RBI. Even with the home run today, he really doesn’t need to be rostered in any leagues except for two-catcher leagues where he’s being used as a catcher.

The home run was Fry’s ninth of the season and first since May 31st. Despite making the All-Star team, he’s been quiet at the plate since the end of May. He’s 31-for-134 (.231) with one home run and 11 RBI in his last 44 games. We could see the Guardians scale back Fry’s playing time unless he gets hot again. He’s hitting .285 with an .843 OPS and 38 RBI on the season.

The Guardians are definitely valuing Thomas as a quality regular by giving up this much for him, so while it’s arguable that he won’t help them against righties, we’d expect him to keep playing every day and maybe continue to hit second regularly. He probably won’t do as much running — he’s 28-for-40 there this year — but that could be countered by some extra runs and RBI while hitting in a better lineup. This might set up a Will Brennan-Angel Martinez platoon in center field, assuming that Martinez sticks. There’s the chance the Guardians could send him down and use Tyler Freeman in center against lefties. David Fry will probably lose some playing time, as Jhonkensy Noel could replace some of his right field starts by DHing instead.

Fry got the Guardians on the board with an early single and made Cristopher Sánchez uncomfortable early. He’s still nowhere near the player he was in April and May, but Fry has a hit in three out of four games and has a .774 OPS in a very small sample since the All-Star break.