Tyler Naquin Signs Guardians Contract as Pitcher After 8-Year MLB Career as Outfielder

Tyler Naquin, who spent eight MLB seasons as an outfielder, is trying to return to the bigs as a pitcher with the Cleveland Guardians, per the franchise's Player Development department.

Zack Meisel of The Athletic provided more information.

Naquin played in the majors from 2016-2023 for Cleveland, the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Chicago White Sox, hitting .263 (.762 OPS) with 61 home runs and 237 RBI in 562 games.

It isn't uncommon for position players to successfully convert to pitchers, including Jacob DeGrom, Trevor Hoffman and Tim Wakefield. However, those players did so early in their careers, while Naquin is trying to make a dramatic change at age 33. Per Matt Snyder of CBS Sports, Naquin never pitched in college or the minors either.

As Meisel noted, though, Naquin certainly has notable arm strength. That could be of great service to him as he hopes to make the switch.

Naquin also has a great pitcher development staff by his side. Cleveland finished third in MLB in ERA last year (3.61) and first in reliever ERA (2.57). The pitching staff is loaded with players who have developed in the minors and excelled in the bigs, particularly in the bullpen (e.g. Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis).

It's not impossible to see Naquin throwing fire out of the bullpen down the line. But for now, he's on the first step of a potentially long journey as he hopes to complete this comeback.