2023 Cleveland Guardians prospect scouting report: #39 RHP Peyton Battenfield
The big right hander has a deep arsenal and good control, but his future big league role seems up in the air.
Background, Build and Delivery
Big frame and durable overall build. Has the look of an ideal workhorse starter. Strong lower half. Good tempo with delivery. Over the top arm slot with a high release. Comes from good pitching developmental background in Houston, Tampa Bay and now Cleveland.
What Battenfield Does Well
High arm slot and release gives his fastball plenty of carry that helps steal strikes at the bottom of the zone and swings underneath it at the top of the zone. Solid fastball command. Deep arsenal of pitches that keeps hitters guessing. Changeup is probably his best offering with good fade and run. Working to improve cutter/slider. Curveball has good vertical movement. Good control of arsenal.Â
What Batenfield Needs to Improve
Ability to miss bats dropped in 2022. Could use an extra gear on fastball to help it play up further and miss more bats. Did not get a lot of chases out of the zone or swings and misses in the zone in 2022. Working towards consistency on the cutter/slider and which is the better offering. Control over command type pitcher right now.Â
Intangibles
As noted, Battenfield has had experience with analytically inclined pitching development organizations between Houston, Tampa Bay and now Cleveland. He’s done a good job learning, processing and using that information towards his development. That many different voices, terms and different approaches can be a lot for players to process, but Battenfield seems to have a handle on that and is eager to always improve.
Future
After 2021, it looked like Battenfield was on his way towards being a lock for a 40 man spot in 2022. But his strange season in 2022 where he struggled to miss bats and his fastball didn’t really jump the same as it did in Double-A caused Cleveland to leave him unprotected from the Rule 5 draft, where Batenfield went unselected. I’m still a big believer that there could be another gear in there for his fastball and ability to harness a deep arsenal. Perhaps he struggled to adapt to the new baseball in Triple-A like other pitchers. He did see his strikeouts tick back up at the end of the year. Others have thought that a move to the bullpen would be coming for Battenfield, and that still could be true. That is reflected in his ranking this year that his future probably does lie in the bullpen where his velocity can tick up and he could focus on 2-3 of his best pitches,but still maintain a deep arsenal as a multi-inning option. The workhorse stature and arsenal make you want to believe in his future as a starter, where that probably leaves him as a sixth starter/depth type guy, but he could have a greater impact as a reliever.
Role - 40 - Sixth starter/swingman/middle relief option
