2023 Cleveland Guardians Prospects - Just Missed

Here are some diamonds in the rough among Guardians prospect you may have heard about before, some that have slipped, and some to know going forward.

P Jake Miller

The final member of an already promising 2021 draft class, Miller was selected by the Guardians in the 20th round and signed for a 300k bonus. In 2022 Miller started nine games for Lynchburg with a 31% K rate, a 7% BB rate and a 4.81 ERA before undergoing Tommy John surgery in July. Like many recent Cleveland draftees, Miller features a low 90s fastball with riding life and a whiff-generating changeup with big fade. These two pitches combined with his solid 6’2” 210 lb build give Miller a solid foundation to be an MLB contributor as a starter or reliever. 

To succeed as a starter, Miller will likely have to tone down his high-effort delivery, which features a fairly long arm path. The Guardians have had success doing this with other pitchers in the past, including Aaron Civale and Daniel Espino. He will also have to improve the consistency of his slider, which flashes bat-missing movement but can get loopy at times. With improvement in these areas, Miller has upside to be a mid to back of the rotation starter. Miller is unlikely to pitch many competitive innings in 2023 as he recovers from Tommy John but may join Lake County towards the end of the season. - MK

P Austin Peterson

Peterson was third in Division I last year in strikeouts (147 in 110.1 innings), ahead of both Parker Messick and Justin Campbell. He also walked just 25. He works in the low 90s with a solid slider. He’s tall and lanky with good control, so he’s got a nice base to work with.

Perhaps given his performance last year at UCONN saw him outperform two Guardians draft picks in his own draft class and probably one or two future Guardians draft picks (Tanner Hall and/or Hurston Waldrep) he should be ranked on this list. He seems like a decent candidate for Cleveland to squeeze more out of his abilities. He should start the year in High-A Lake County and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him have a breakout sort of year if Cleveland identified something with his pitch mix or delivery that helps him find another gear. - JL

P Rodney Boone

One of 19 pitchers from the Guardians 2021 draft class, Boone missed a ton of bats in his pro debut in 2022 and didn’t issue many free passes. That seems like a good recipe for future success. Control has never been a problem for the 6’1 left hander with a a good four pitch mix. While he dominates with a fastball with a lot of vertical carry, control and deception, along with a fall off the table type changeup, Boone’s velocity is roughly 85-87 and tops out at about 88. He has yet to add the velocity perhaps Cleveland maybe hoped he would upon drafting him. Maybe they’ll find a way, maybe not. The stat line looks impressive in his debut but for a future as a prospect there’s still work to be done to make him more projectable in the future.

Boone tossed 65.2 innings in High-A last year to the tune of a a 26.2 K%, 7.4 BB% but a 4.80 ERA. The pitching stable is crowded at just about every level right now so theres a chance the soon to be 23 year old will be back in the rotation at Lake County to start the 2023 season.

RP Tyler Thornton

Another pitcher from the 2021 draft class, Thornton didn’t get to make his debut until May of 2022 and was impressive when he got there, striking out over 40% of the batters he faced. The 14 BB% was a little less desirable but Thornton can run his fastball in on hitters in the mid-90s with armside run thanks to his unique almost sidearm delivery. His fastball has a flat approach angle thanks to that release point that makes it tough for hitters and he combines with a slider that can also miss bats that makes him a relief option to watch.

Thornton doesn’t turn 23 in July and should be ready to move into a bullpen role in Lake County. - JL

RP Andrew Misiaszek

A personal favorite of mine, Misiaszek has consistently missed bats as a relief pitcher since being selected in the 2019 32nd round out of Northeastern. In 2022 Misiaszek pitched to a 36% K rate, a 10% BB rate and a 2.04 ERA as he split time between Akron and Columbus. He has been particularly tough on left-handed hitters, allowing a sub .500 OPS to lefties in both ’21 and ’22, with an unbelievable 10 to 1 K/BB ratio. Misiaszek throws a four-seam fastball with a flat approach angle due to his low three-quarters arm slot along with a plus slider that lefties struggle to hit. A few tweaks to his delivery along with improved conditioning led to a big velo jump for Misiaszek, who now sits in the low-90s after being a high-80s thrower earlier in his career. 

Misiaszek has the ingredients to get lefties out in the majors, but with the implementation of the three batter rule in 2020, MLB relievers must be able to get opposite handed hitters as well. Misiaszek has been able to strike out righties at a greater than 30% clip, but has struggled with walks. To improve on this, he will have to work on his changeup, which is currently a below-average pitch. Misiaszek has consistently upped his game every season and a 36% whiff rate in both AA and AAA is a good foundation for a relief to work from. Look for Misiaszek to compete for a bullpen spot in spring training and make his MLB debut in 2023. - MK

RP Alaska Abney 

Alaska Abney was selected by the Guardians in the 15th round of the 2021 draft following a successful college career as a reliever for Coastal Carolina. In 2022 Abney pitched 49 innings for Lake County, finishing with a 30% K rate, 14% BB rate and a 2.54 ERA. Alaska is a submarine thrower who specializes in inducing weak contact and allowed just a .165 batting average on balls in play this past season. His arsenal includes a high-80s sinker with over 16 inches of horizontal break and a sweeping slider thrown in the high-70s with 10 inches of sweeping movement. Like many submarine throwers, Abney’s stuff is thrown at below average velocities, but his unique release point (2.5 feet off the ground) provides deception and allows Abney to generate whiffs and mishit balls. 

Abney’s stuff and deception are likely sufficient to succeed at the big league level, but he will have to improve the consistency of his pitch execution to be a major league reliever. As well, Abney has significant platoon splits, allowing an OPS 200 points higher to left-handers than to righties. He could potentially benefit from adding a third pitch, possibly a cutter or gyroscopic slider, that has more neutral platoon splits and would give a manager more potential situations to use him. If Abney is able to lower his walk rate and perform better against left-handed batters, he should be able to find a role as a bullpen weapon. Look for Abney to debut in Akron in 2022 and potentially be a fast-moving reliever. - MK

RP Zach Pettway

Yet another relief option from the Guardians 2021 draft, Pettway had a stop and start season with some injuries. But he ran a strikeout rate a 34.5 K% and paired that with good control (7.3 BB%). Pettway comes from a decent development background at UCLA and has a high arm slot with a good changeup. He looks a little like Zach Plesac with his arm swing and he hides the ball well and the fastball gets some carry. Pettway was a starter in college so we’ll see how Cleveland decides to handle him in his second pro season, depending on what innings are available. Pettway should be in High-A Lake County to start the season. - JL

RP Javier Santos Tejada

Cleveland popped Santos Tejada in the seventh round of the 202 draft out of Georgia Premier Academy, the same school they found Daniel Espino. Tejada is short, but thick and well built, running his fastball up to 97. The fastball can be electric, bores down on hitters, is hard and he locates it fairly well. He pairs that with a high spin curve. He’s probably a reliever or a project but the arm and stuff have a lot of life. He could be a name to watch creep up onto the list here soon. - JL

INF Juan Benjamin

The 5’8 Benjamin was barely out of the complex league in 2022 but had a strong season in terms of bat to ball skills and patience at the plate. A lot of that has to be taken with a grain of big old flaky sea salt because it happened in the complex leagues, but there is promising batted ball data on him and he might have the short levers and swing Cleveland has been known for to make good contact to help prove those swing decisions weren’t fluky last year.

Benjamin was signed as a shortstop in the 2018 international signing class but has spent more time at second base since signing and a little at third. He could vie for playing time at Low-A Lynchburg this year to get a real look at how things are going for him. - JL

C Jose Cedeno

Cedeno was officialy signed a year ago in January of 2022 and was on the field for a promising debut as far as complex leagues go. He posted an impressive amount of contact (93% z-contact, according to Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs), walked 27 times compared to 17, and posted some decent exit velos for a kid his age at the complex league. He’s an undersized catcher for now and threw out 31% of runners for what that is worth at that level, too. Perhaps if we are ranking other prospects from the 2022 signing class so high that Cedeno is just as deserving, but catchers are harder to identify and there is always going to be the size question when it comes to that position as well. Still, there’s something to keep an eye out for here.

Turning 18 in under a month before the 2023 season starts, Cedeno should already be in the US for his other complex league debut, which gives him the chance to get to Low-A by age 19, maybe even sooner if things go well this year, depending on Cleveland’s catching priorities low in the minors. - JL

OF Jorge Burgos

Playing his age 20 season in Low-A, Burgos put together a solid amount of contact and plate discipline, showing some good contact quality and the ability to stay in the zone. There hasn’t been much power yet so he could wind up being really a fourth or fifth outfield prospect is he carries this kind of protection at 21 in High-A in 2023. I don’t think there’s much of a ceiling here, but a potential cup of coffee extra outfielder. - JL

OF Johnathan Rodriguez

Normally 26 homers in a season and a .919 OPS would jump off the page for a 22 year old, but Rodriguez’s strikeout rates were in the upper 20% and 30% range between High-A and Double-A. There’s no doubt big power here, but Rodriguez sells out a lot for power in his swing and tries to pull everything to left field. For all the power and aggressive approach, he hit for a good average in High-A and has some of the best exit velos in the system. He does swing and strikes. It’s possible he could be something close to Oscar Gonzalez where the swing decisions don’t matter as much or the aggressive approach doesn’t, but he strikes out a lot more than Gonzalez ever did, so he’ll have to come an even longer way than he did to prove he can get to this power more the way Gonzalez did. He’ll man an outfield/DH spot in Double-A in 2023 full time. - JL

OF Connor Kokx

Despite a low batting average, Kokx appeared to make good swing decisions in his full pro debut 2022, held a reasonable strikeout rate. He put up less than average exit velocities, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Kokx has a good batting eye, makes contact, has some speed, and plays good defense. That gives him a base of a good bench type outfielder. If Cleveland can help him put some more thump on the ball, that would go well with his base of skills and vault him up a little.

A spot in Double-A in 2023 should be a good test to see where his skills are and what his future role could me. - JL

1B Joe Naranjo

Despite being thought of as a hit over power player in the draft, so far Naranjo hasn’t shown as much with the hit tool. He repeated High-A in 2022 and increased his power and walk rate, and still struck out at 25%. He did get stronger and won a Gold Glove at first base, showing his skills there. If Naranjo weren’t left handed, he may be playing another position besides first base due to his size and skill set. 

Having some versatility in the outfield may help him in the future because even as a left-hander it’s hard to project his future there. But if he can realize the power gains, cut down on his strikeouts when he gets to Double-A, no easy task, we’ll get a clearer picture of his potential future role. He would project right now as a low end regular/callup right now at best. - JL

1B Will Bartlett

While Naranjo found more power last year, Bartlett has not, despite having plenty. Bartlett posts solid exit velocities, is a pretty disciplined hitter but he does miss swing and miss enough, and the other rub is that he doesn’t get the ball in the air enough to get to his big power. He’s also right handed, which makes the path even harder. So this is an acknowledgment of Barlett having above average power and plate discipline, but the swing and miss and being a right handed hitter makes it a tough climb.

Bartlett should finally get time in High-A this year, though that’s not much of a test more than Low-A. - JL

C Victor Izturis

Izturis is another undersized catcher who doesn’t swing and miss, and doesn’t chase either, but is strictly left handed. The stature and being in the complex league, along with only throwing out 21% of runners in 2022 put him on the watch list for now. But like Cedeno, he could make his US debut in 2023 at 18, and then Low-A a 19 if things continue to stay on the track. Izturis also has MLB bloodlines that makes him more intriguing. - JL

C Manuel Mejias

Another stocky, switch hitting catcher with elite contact rates, Mejias made his stateside debut at 18, walked nearly as much as he struck out. The contact rates and being a switch hitter offer some promise, so perhaps he merits mention higher around Cedeno. There’s a chance all these catchers could move up the list due to their contact rates, but they have to show more thump or promise of some soon, and they’ll have to prove defensive value behind it. Mejias threw out just 4-of-23 runners in 2022.

Mejias will still play most of 2023 at 18, and there’s a chance he could do it at Low-A. - JL

INF Aaron Bracho

Bracho gets a mention on the slipping value and future list because he’s had back to back poor years. He was one of the higher paid players in the 2017 international signing class and has yet to put together some solid results in shortseason ball in 2019 before the pandemic. Since then, he’s had conditioning, strikeout and injury issues. The lack of shifting also may hurt his ability to play second base as well and he has been moved around to find more defensive value, even though there may not be much to find. Bracho needs to hit and hit in 2023 or his time could be slipping away in Cleveland. The money invested in him might give him more run but that may not give him all of 2023. - JL

INF Carson Tucker

Tucker was an underslot pick to spread the wealth in the uncertain 2020 draft class. He was considered a late riser in that class that might have been taken higher or had more first round talk had he been able to play a full season his senior year in high school. But he’s had injuries and hasn’t had much time on the field, and hasn’t hit yet. 2023 is going to be an important yea and he still needs to conquer Low-A. - JL

INF Junior Sanquintin

Another player from the 2021 draft class that got a good bonus and was highly thought of, Sanquintin has since moved off shortstop and may be a first base only option with how much he has grown. Not only that, despite his big exit velocities, Sanquintin has big chase and miss issues that make it hard to get to his big power that he will need at first base to hang onto his value. So, Sanquintin is no longer a middle infielder, but gets mention here because of the exit velocities and his prior standing here. - JL

P Josh Wolf

Wolf was the fourth part of the Francisco Lindor trade and was a well though of high school pick by the Mets in the 2019 draft class. He’s got interesting mechanics, a low-90s fastball and a good slider. But he wasn’t healthy much of 2022 and came back as a reliever. He still needs to add some muscle to his stature, so he might fit best as a two pitch reliever now. He’s young but with how packed pitching is in the organization, relief might be his best shot now. - JL