September 18, 2026
Nolan Jones joins Roy Weatherly (1936) as the only players in franchise history with at least two hits, including an extra-base hit and an RBI in each of their first two career games.
Weatherly became a fixture in the Indians lineups, often as their leadoff hitter though the late 1930s and early 40s. He was traded to the Yankees prior to the 1943 season, and helped them win the World Series that year.
After a brief stint with the Phillies, Oscar Mercado is back.
He’s now on a short list of players to appear in a game for Cleveland, play elsewhere in the majors, and then return to Cleveland in the same season.
This is a difficult bit of trivia to research, but I am aware of at least one other instance: Jeff Manto in 1998.
Manto made the Opening Day roster – he actually started at 1B on Opening Day in place of Jim Thome, with Randy Johnson on the mound. Manto was then placed on waivers and picked up by Detroit.
The Tigers released Manto in June and a few days later he re-signed with Cleveland and was sent to AAA. In August, Manto was recalled, and appeared in a few more games for Cleveland down the stretch.
Manto was acquired by the Indians in six different transactions throughout his career.
Konnor Pilkington tossed five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in his third career start (sixth career game) against the Royals yesterday.
He’s the sixth pitcher in franchise history with at least eight strikeouts and zero runs allowed in a game within his first six career appearances. The others:
The Pirates have purchased the contract of Yu Chang, ending his Cleveland career.
He finishes his 2022 season with seven strikeouts in 10 plate appearances.
His 70% strikeout rate is the second highest in franchise history for a player with at least 10 plate appearances. Only pitcher Tom Hilgendorf in 1972 (79% – 11 K in 14 PA) was worse.
The next worst by a position player was Andrew Velazquez in 2019 (58% – 7 K in 12 PA).
This stat pretty much sums up Chang’s career in Cleveland:
Bryan Lavastida has made the Guardians Opening Day roster. He’s the first catcher with zero MLB experience to make the team’s Opening Day roster since Andy Allanson in 1986.
Tyler Naquin is just the third player since 1908 with 3 strikeouts and zero times reaching base in each of the first two games of the season.
The others:
Indians with at least 3 plate appearances on Opening Day, who struck out in each PA:
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus sagittis semper tortor. Quisque non felis elementum augue ullamcorper laoreet. Nam porta leo ut felis suscipit, vel semper lectus vehicula. Nulla vitae porta leo. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Fusce bibendum arcu in lacinia condimentum. Aenean id nunc quis ex congue facilisis. Proin non tempus arcu. Donec dictum elementum ex et aliquet. Praesent at pulvinar augue, ut ultricies mauris. Nulla congue nulla in semper cursus. Sed auctor condimentum sem a tincidunt. Duis rhoncus maximus varius. Nullam imperdiet imperdiet massa vel lacinia. Nam auctor odio velit, at ultricies nisi dictum quis. Vestibulum tempus tellus nec leo malesuada, in tempus quam vehicula.
Sed nec blandit nibh. Pellentesque commodo suscipit gravida. Sed sit amet ex sed mi dignissim elementum in ut quam. Vivamus laoreet non mauris eget mattis. Nam turpis orci, consectetur vel accumsan sed, condimentum at sapien. Nunc ut egestas neque, eu hendrerit lacus. Suspendisse fermentum congue dui nec fringilla. Duis volutpat nunc lectus. Suspendisse potenti. Suspendisse egestas venenatis nunc. Donec at laoreet lacus.
Pellentesque tristique nisi justo. Mauris quis risus luctus, suscipit dui et, fermentum purus. Donec dui magna, sollicitudin nec malesuada in, porttitor eu augue. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque non est sollicitudin, luctus lacus quis, rhoncus sapien. Pellentesque pellentesque sodales enim a faucibus. Aliquam commodo non nisl posuere lobortis. Quisque mi nibh, pharetra quis efficitur eu, lobortis dignissim dui. Cras vitae laoreet massa, in maximus nisi. Donec a posuere massa, et bibendum metus. Ut urna magna, sollicitudin in tellus a, varius vulputate est. Aliquam sit amet iaculis purus. Maecenas aliquam tellus eu ultrices auctor. Etiam in hendrerit tellus.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus sagittis semper tortor. Quisque non felis elementum augue ullamcorper laoreet. Nam porta leo ut felis suscipit, vel semper lectus vehicula. Nulla vitae porta leo. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Fusce bibendum arcu in lacinia condimentum. Aenean id nunc quis ex congue facilisis. Proin non tempus arcu. Donec dictum elementum ex et aliquet. Praesent at pulvinar augue, ut ultricies mauris. Nulla congue nulla in semper cursus. Sed auctor condimentum sem a tincidunt. Duis rhoncus maximus varius. Nullam imperdiet imperdiet massa vel lacinia. Nam auctor odio velit, at ultricies nisi dictum quis. Vestibulum tempus tellus nec leo malesuada, in tempus quam vehicula.
Sed nec blandit nibh. Pellentesque commodo suscipit gravida. Sed sit amet ex sed mi dignissim elementum in ut quam. Vivamus laoreet non mauris eget mattis. Nam turpis orci, consectetur vel accumsan sed, condimentum at sapien. Nunc ut egestas neque, eu hendrerit lacus. Suspendisse fermentum congue dui nec fringilla. Duis volutpat nunc lectus. Suspendisse potenti. Suspendisse egestas venenatis nunc. Donec at laoreet lacus.
Pellentesque tristique nisi justo. Mauris quis risus luctus, suscipit dui et, fermentum purus. Donec dui magna, sollicitudin nec malesuada in, porttitor eu augue. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque non est sollicitudin, luctus lacus quis, rhoncus sapien. Pellentesque pellentesque sodales enim a faucibus. Aliquam commodo non nisl posuere lobortis. Quisque mi nibh, pharetra quis efficitur eu, lobortis dignissim dui. Cras vitae laoreet massa, in maximus nisi. Donec a posuere massa, et bibendum metus. Ut urna magna, sollicitudin in tellus a, varius vulputate est. Aliquam sit amet iaculis purus. Maecenas aliquam tellus eu ultrices auctor. Etiam in hendrerit tellus.