CLEVELAND -- Rocctember has ended, but Rocctober has only just begun.
Fans in Cleveland know what time it is. This is when Brayan Rocchio transforms into Playoff Rocchio, the sweet-swinging shortstop with a knack for clutch hits, something the Guardians could desperately use as they look to even up the American League Division Series with Game 2 on Monday at Progressive Field.
You don’t typically think of a No. 9 hitter as one to strike fear into the heart of an opponent. Of course, the White Sox know firsthand what Rocchio is capable of. He lurks in that No. 9 spot, thirsting for his moment to strike. He already did it a couple of times against Chicago during the regular season, first slugging a walk-off homer against the White Sox in July and later walking it off with a double in a critical divisional matchup last month.
Long before Rocchio earned his current moniker, however, he was known by another alias: The Professor. That nickname was given to him as a teenager by Cleveland’s Latin American Scouting department, which at the time of Rocchio’s signing in 2017 was headed by director Koby Perez, now vice president of international scouting and operations for the Orioles.
Why The Professor?
“He was a really smart baseball player,” Perez told MLB.com. “His tools didn’t stand out very much, but when we were able to get the statistical data, he was a guy who very rarely swung and missed. … He was just a really good baseball player -- that if you watch him enough, you can tell he’s a winning player.”
Currently listed at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, Rocchio is not exactly a towering presence. He was even smaller when Perez and his staff first got eyes on him as a 15-year-old. But beyond his stature, something else stood out about the kid from Caracas, Venezuela.
“There was definitely a confidence,” Perez said. “It was a really quiet confidence. I think he has more flair now. He’s kind of showing it more. But he was definitely a confident player ever since he was young. He went up there to the plate and he was never nervous. You knew something good was going to happen.”
Rocchio had a high baseball IQ and checked off all the intangibles you’d want to see as a young prospect. Still, even as a switch-hitter with the ability to make contact from both sides of the plate -- good contact at that -- he just wasn’t very strong. He stole bases, but he wasn’t very fast. He was smooth at shortstop and made all the plays on defense, but his arm was just average.
That’s why, when Cleveland announced its 2017 international signing class, Rocchio was merely a footnote with a signing bonus of $125,000. Despite being somewhat unheralded, Perez felt strongly about Rocchio’s chances to one day reach the Majors.
“When I saw him as a kid, I saw it as, ‘OK, this guy is going to go out and the manager is going to love him because he’s going to help the team win,’” Perez said. “He’s going to help the team win in A-ball, Double-A and Triple-A. I knew he was going to get to the big leagues, because every manager is going to want him.
“Now, did I think it was going to be as an everyday shortstop? That was probably our hope. But the ceiling was pretty good.”
Rocchio has shattered that ceiling. Over the years, he’s beaten out other talented shortstops in Cleveland’s system by sharpening what were once considered average tools, turning into an elite defender with plenty of pop at the plate to pose as a real power threat.
What has always been there, though, is that confidence, which has only been strengthened by Rocchio’s postseason performance over the past two years.
But to truly find the root of Rocchio’s success in big spots, Rocchio pointed to his experience before the 2024 season. Seeking to learn how to better control his emotions and handle intense moments, Rocchio was sent to play winter ball in Venezuela. Not only did he play well in 20 games for Tiburones de La Guaira, hitting .377 with a .998 OPS, Rocchio was a key figure on a historic run that ended with the Tiburones capturing their first championship in 38 years.
“Venezuela prepared me for those moments,” Rocchio said. “Winter ball gave me the confidence to come through in these types of games and be myself. … That’s the first time I said, ‘Those moments are where I have to be.’”
Should the Guardians find themselves in a big moment the rest of this series, you know who they want up. The player formerly known as The Professor, Playoff Rocchio.
“He seems to always step up in those big moments because he wants it and he expects it,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “When the game is on the line, you want him at the plate.”