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Oscar González has been one of the Guardians’ biggest surprises of the season, and he’s been making an impression with an unique walk-up song. Right before he sets up to hit, the rookie outfielder uses the theme song to Spongebob Squarepants.
As for why this was his choice, González wanted his walk-up song to represent the fact that he is just playing a game. Therefore, he chose the theme song to one of the more popular kids television shows in the country.
“Because kids love that song and this is a kid’s game after all,” he said. “I’ve had it since Triple A.”
González played in 91 games for Cleveland this year, cementing himself as the team’s primary right fielder. He hit 11 home runs and batted .296 on the season, performing to a point where he is hitting cleanup in the Guardians first playoff game.
When González first came up to the majors, manager Terry Francona mentioned how impressed he was by the rookie’s immediate production.
“It’s not all that often when a young kid comes up and gives you a huge boost,” Francona said in June, via Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal. “I think a lot of the time, you hope they play the game right, you know. But he’s really given us a lift and some energy.”
González turned it up a bit in September, hitting six home runs with a .312 batting average in the final month of the season. General manager Chris Antonetti believes that is a product of González’s development at the major league level.
“We were hopeful that he could then combine both managing his at-bats and then have the power come along with it,” Antonetti said, via Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. “I think we’ve started to see that over the last few weeks. It’s awesome and exciting to see.”
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While González is known for his quality contact, Francona has credited him with being able to change his approach when necessary.
“To his credit–he’ll go out of the zone–but more often than not, especially when he gets down in the count, he’ll shorten up and get something he can handle,” Francona said, via Hoynes. “And he has such good hands that he can still hit with some force, even when he’s shortening up.”
González, along with left fielder Steven Kwan and infielders Amed Rosario and Andrés Giménez, help Cleveland make up the youngest team in MLB this season. It is only fitting that one of their key players is leaning into the youth aspect of the club.
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For more Cleveland Guardians coverage, go to Cleveland Baseball Insider.
