Who would play shortstop for the Cleveland Guardians was a hot topic after spring training.

There seemed to be an open competition for this position between Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias, with Rocchio eventually being named the team’s regular left midfielder.

The question of Cleveland’s best shortstop option remained throughout the season, however, as both options left much to be desired at the plate. Arias was eventually relegated to Triple-A, but Stephen Vogt continued to use Rocchio as his everyday shortstop, occasionally throwing in Daniel Schneemann and Tyler Freeman.

Rocchio continued to be a solid defensive option for the Guardians, but offense continued to be a problem. Through the first five months of the season, Rocchio had a .215 batting average and a .632 OPS. His lack of power was the biggest problem, ranking in the third percentile in average exit velocity.

However, Rocchio is changing the narrative of his rookie season with his performance last month. We are finally learning why he was considered a top talent for the team at the start of the season.

In his last 30 games, the infielder has a batting average of .263/.329/.487, including five home runs and 13 RBI. In the last week, Rocchio had a batting average of .368 and an OPS of 1.093.

Rocchio’s best hit of the year came on Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers when he hit a solo home run in the eighth inning.

Stephen Vogt has certainly noticed this upswing in the offense and credits Rocchio for not working on continually improving.

“Rocchio had an interesting year on offense, let’s put it that way,” Vogt said after Cleveland’s 3-1 win over the Dodgers on Friday night.

“I mean, there were ups and downs. But he continued to play great defense. He had a great attitude. It seems like he’s growing up and really believes he belongs here and he should.”

The Guardians could face one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball if Rocchio can maintain his performance through September and into the postseason.