Florial is competing with Myles Straw this spring for the Guardians' center field job, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic reports.
Straw has been the club's primary center fielder since being picked up from the Astros in 2021 and still offers Gold Glove-caliber defense, but he's slashed an anemic .229/.296/.284 over the last two campaigns. Florial, who was acquired via trade from the Yankees this offseason, has just a .609 OPS in 134 plate appearances at the major-league level but collected a .944 OPS with 28 homers and 25 steals in 2023 over 101 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 26-year-old has swing-and-miss issues (29.9 percent strikeout rate at SWB) but certainly would offer more fantasy intrigue than Straw. Florial is also out of minor-league options, so he'll undoubtedly make the Opening Day roster.