2024 Cleveland Guardians Prospect Scouting Report: #29 OF Petey Halpin

Halpin has the defensive tools to handle all three outfield spots and is looking to find more consistency and growth offensively

Petey Halpin Bio

• Age (2024 season): 22

• Acquired: 2020 Draft (Round 3)

• 2023 Level: Double-A

• Height: 6’0

• Weight: 20

• Bats: Left

• Throws: Right

Petey Halpin Stats

• PA: 510

• AVG/OBP/SLG: .243/.312/.371

• 2B: 23

• HR: 9

• SB: 12/14

• K%/BB%: 24.7%/9.2%

Petey Halpin 2024 Scouting Grades

• Hit: 45

• Power: 40

• Speed: 60

• Defense: 55

• Arm: 60

• Overall: 40

• Risk: High

• ETA: 2025

Build & Background

Medium frame with an athletic build overall. Looks to have a solid lower half. Strong forearms. Seems to have filled out his fame with good strength since being drafted. Not much projection remaining left in frame. Has maintained speed and athleticism as he’s filled out. Halpin started the season in a straight up stance with the bat on his shoulder pre-load into his swing. As the season went on, he started his hands more up over his head and barrel up more. Has a moderate weight transfer, using a leg kick. Good use of hands in his swing. Seems to have a short, compact finish in his swing, with the change in how he gets his hands through the zone to try and pull and loft the ball a bit more. Cleveland selected Halpin in the third round of the 2020 draft as a prep player in California for $1.525 million, as he 95th pick, where his slot value was $610,000. That bonus made him the third highest paid player in the Guardians draft (Carson Tucker at $2M, and Tanner Burns came in at $1.6M). 

What Halpin Does Well

The two most refined and ready tools Halpin has right now are speed and defense. Halpin is an easy plus runner on the bases, to first, underway and in the outfield. He hasn’t run as much on the bases as someone with his speed normally would, but in 2023 he did improve his success rate on the bases, growing in his instincts and reads there. He has the capability to be a 20 steal type runner, possibly more. As a defender, Halpin should be able to man centerfield at the big league level. He uses his speed to close well on balls. Takes fairly efficient routes to the ball. He’s really good at coming in and to his side on the ball and using his athleticism on flashier plays. He’s also got an easy plus arm in the outfield, one that would play well enough in right field if he plays out there, as he can handle all three outfield spots. At the plate, Halpin does show a patient approach overall and will work at bats. He’s always been able to draw walks in his pro experience so far and generally has a good read of the strike zone. Cleveland may want Halpin to work on pulling the ball a little better, but he’s shown the ability to use the whole field and generally finds the barrel at a solid rate to put the ball in play. When he does pull the ball, he has sneaky pop, but it’s more gap power with the occasional homer. Any power he does have is certainly pull-side.

Where Halpin Needs to Improve

In 2022 and 2023, Halpin has undergone some different offensive setups in the box pre-load. Hopefully he has found one that is comfortable and gives him the kind of swing he’s looking for and can settle on that to make adjustments from and grow offensively. He’s a decent contact hitter but will chase good offspeed stuff that is down. His pre-load setup did seem to give him a little more pull in his swing last year, but it sort of looks like his swing is cut off at the end. Has a very short finish. Sometimes his patience can become passivity, but not at an alarming rate. Left handers gave Halpin issues in 2023, so a platoon split is a real concern for him. Halpin has plenty of gifts defensively but could find more consistency in his reads and going back on the ball, at least taking that first step.

Key Stats

In 2022, Halpin was 16 of 23 on the bases, just about a 70% rate on steals. In 2023, he ran less, but was 12/14, an 85% rate. For a player with Halpin’s speed, he should run more and he’ll want to continue getting better jumps and reads on pitchers to take advantage of it on base. 

Intangibles

Halpin is a very driven type player. He shows up and puts in the work pre-game and attempts to take his work and adjustments into the game, often making them quickly. While his stance changes the last two years could be looked at as tinkering, he shows an ability to learn, adapt and work on things until he finds something that works. He’ll want to avoid making changes too fast, but the coachability and drive to continue to improve are well noted. He’s also shown a healthy amount of fiery competitiveness between the lines that he continues to work to harness.

Future

Cleveland has been aggressive with Halpin in his assignments. Since drafting him, he’s been about two years younger than his peers at each level. There were some struggles and growing pains in Double-A in 2023. He could repeat the level to start 2024 and look to propel himself to Triple-A. 2024 will be a big year for Halpin. He’ll become Rule 5 eligible this coming December and will look to solidify himself as a future centerfield option for Cleveland in 2025 and beyond. Defensively, it’s just about consistency for him, as well as improving his game on the bases. Offensively, showing growth and a consistent swing should be on the list in 2024. Right now, Halpin tracks as a fourth outfield type who can handle all three outfield spots well defensively, add value on the bases, and possibly put up some walks and maybe handle a platoon role. 

Role 

40 - Glove first platoon outfielder/fourth outfielder