DAVID FRY…Wife, Rebekah...Daughter, Evelyn...Holds Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, La.) career records in 2B (74) and TB (431); tied the school record in HR (31)…Named Southland Conference Player of Year in 2018 (.327, 12HR, 55RBI, 62-G)...Graduated from Grapevine High School in 2014...In 2024, Fry interacted with over one thousand individuals from the greater Cleveland community. During the season, the All-Star visited the Cleveland APL, First Tee Cleveland, Guardians Youth Summer Camps and more.
2024
Was a force in the first half, playing all around the diamond on his way to his first All-Star nod...Second half was limited by right elbow injury that eventually required surgery but not before providing some epic moments during Cleveland's 10-game Postseason run...From the start of the season thru May 31 he batting .352 (37-for-105) with a .485 OBP and 1.114 OPS and was leading MLB in both ratios among hitters with at least 125PA to that point... Batted .279 (57-for-204) in the first half with 14 2B, eight HR, 33 RBI and an .853 OPS...Limited in the second half with right elbow strain suffered while catching on June 23 vs. Toronto...Made just one start at catcher the remainder of season (July 23) and was mainly limited to 1B, DH, PH in the second half and PS...Selected to participate in the 2024 All-Star Game (DH, player vote)…Went 1-for-2 with a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the third inning…Became the first player in club history with a game-tying plate appearance in their first career All-Star Game. ..Batted .237 (31-for-131), 11 XBH, 18 RBI in 49 second half games...Was a force all season vs. left-handed pitching, carrying a slash line of .287/.430/.586/.996 for the season in 165 plate appearances...Was fourth in MLB walks vs. LHP (30), sixth in OPS, second in OBP in MLB...His season-long OBP of .350 was 13th-highest in the AL among players with at least 350 PA...Positionally made 14 starts at catcher (23G), 17 starts at first base (20G), 13 starts in LF (16G), two starts in RF (4G) and appeared in four games at third... Club was 13-1 in 14 starts at catcher and 54-32 in his 86 overall starts... Reached safely in a career-high 19-straight games from May 8-June 1, hitting .389 (21-for-54) with seven home runs, 18 RBI and a 1.350 OPS over that stretch... Became the first player in franchise history to play catcher, first base and left field in a single game on May 10 at Chicago-AL... Guardians went 12-2 in games when Fry homered...Hit a pair of monster homers and drove in eight runs over 10 Postseason games...His go-ahead pinch-hit homer in ALDS Game 4 @ DET was the second pinch-hit home run in Cleveland Postseason history at the time, joining Hank Majeski (1954 WS Game 4 vs. NYG)...Marked the first PS go-ahead, pinch-hit homer in club history...Became the seventh player since 1912 to record a two-out, go-ahead, pinch-hit home run in Postseason history (last, Juan Yepez on Oct. 7, 2022 vs. Philadelphia)...Jhonkensy Noel would hit another pinch-hit home run later in the Postseason (ALCS Game 3)…Also had a safety squeeze, RBI sac bunt in the ninth inning, becoming only player in MLB history to have a RBI sacrifice bunt and go-ahead, pinch-hit home run in same game (regular or postseason; OptaSTATS)...Blasted two-run, 10th inning walk-off HR in ALCS Game 3 vs. NYY off Clay Holmes, the only player in MLB history to hit a two-out, two-strike, go-ahead HR in seventh inning-or-later twice in his Postseason career (OptaSTATS)...Both home runs came within eight days of each other in games he did not start...Third walk-off home run in club history, joining Oscar González (2022 ALWC Game 2 vs. TB) and Tony Peña (1995 ALDS Game 1 vs. BOS)...Following the season (Oct. 30), underwent right elbow surgery to address a chronically insufficient ulnar collateral ligament with a resolving flexor strain...Dr. Keith Meister utilized a hybrid/ internal brace and tendon graft reconstruction technique to address the ligament...Rehabilitation/recovery is expected to be in the 6-8 month range from a return to hitting and 12 months for a return to playing the field.
2023
Spent most of the season with Cleveland after opening year on the AAA Columbus roster, spending April in Triple-A...Contract was selected from Columbus on May 1 and he made his ML that night at New York(AL) as a pinch-runner...Was with Cleveland the remainder of the year save a three-week stint on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain, Aug. 5-31...Appeared in 28 games at catcher (8GS), 19 at first base (7GS) and made seven starts in RF and 2 in LF...Also appeared in two games at pitcher for the first time in his career...Notched first career homer and three RBI in first start at catcher, June 15 at SD...Over his last 45 games after June 12 he batted .262 (22-for-84) with 6 2B, 4 HR, 15 RBI...Became the third player in club history to play RF & C in same game on July 4 vs. Atlanta (first since 1979); the first MLB player to play RF/C and collect walk-off hit since 1975 (Gary Carter/ MON) after game-winning single...Also clubbed walk-off double, Sept. 22 vs. Baltimore...Made first professional pitching appearance, June 30 at Chicago(NL)...His 4.0 IP relief outing on Sept. 4 vs. Minnesota was longest by CLE position player since Milt Galatzer (6.0IP) on 8/26/1936…Last MLB pos. player to go 4.0IP was STL Jose Oquendo (19 IP game) on 5/14/88 vs. ATL...AAA: Batted .289 (26-for-90) w/9 2B, 1 3B, 2HR, 15 RBI and 10BB in 25 games (.859 OPS); Was T3rd in IL in 2B on...5/1...AAA positions: 23G/21GS 3B, 6G/2GS 1B, 1GS 2B.
2022
Spent entire season in AAA Columbus, finishing tied for fourth in the organization in doubles (27) and RBI (74)…Led the club in homers (tied with Will Benson) and RBI…Hit .323 (21-for-65) in 19 May games (six 2B, three HR, 12 RBI) and notched extra-bases hits in six straight games, Apr. 24-May 1…Drove in 14 runs over a five-game stretch, June 2-8... On the year appeared in 63 games at third base (60GS), 38 games at first base (33GS), 12 games at catcher (11GS) and made nine starts at DH…Was named a Rising Stars team in the Arizona Fall League after the season (.286, 13G, 12-for-42, eight RBI)...Org. All-Star (MLB.com).
