Tyler Naquin has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors, his first five of which came in Cleveland. In 2016, he finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting and appeared in five World Series games against the Cubs. He saw time at all three outfield positions, mostly in right and center, and last appeared in an MLB game for the White Sox in 2023.
The Guardians are bringing him back to the organization on a minor-league deal, but the wrinkle here is that he’s coming back as a pitcher. Naquin was a first-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2012 (15th overall) and didn’t pitch in the minors or even in college. He did have a very strong arm in the outfield (using Statcast data, he once ranked in the 99th percentile in arm strength among outfielders), but this is a pretty rare step.
Of course, a position player converting to pitcher isn’t unheard of. Closer Kenley Jansen was a catcher in the minors. Former closers Joe Nathan (shortstop) and Sean Doolittle (first baseman) were also position players to start their professional careers. Most recently, outfielder Anthony Gose converted from outfielder to pitcher.
Gose was an outfielder with Toronto and Detroit from 2012-16 and has appeared as a pitcher with Cleveland in 2021-22 and 2024, pitching to a 4.78 ERA in 32 innings. He’s now in the Mets organization.
It can go the other way, too, most notably, among recent players, with Rick Ankiel going from a pitcher to outfielder. Pitcher Michael Lorenzen has appeared in 34 games as an outfielder since 2018. And, of course, there’s always Babe Ruth, who came up as a pitcher and eventually becoming a full-time right fielder.
Naquin’s journey now as a pitcher will be fun to monitor, if nothing else.
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