Cleveland Guardians 2024 Arizona Fall League Primer
Let's talk about the who and why of the Guardians 2024 AFL selections.
The 2024 Arizona Fall League is upon us, so it’s time for some “offseason” prospect content.
I know there hasn’t been a lot of prospect content here lately since the season ended, but that’s mostly due to getting ready for the ALDS and putting all of my energy and focus into our Locked On Guardians shows.
But it’s time to get prospect content rolling again here, starting with a quick primer on the Guardians in the Arizona Fall League.
(Coming soon I’ll also have my yearly prospect awards, top 10 by position and graduated rookie evaluations.)
OF Chase DeLauter: Let’s start with the big name. Cleveland didn’t have any reservations about promoting DeLauter to Triple-A this year despite 36 total games at Double-A and only30 this year after he came back from his turf toe finally and playing well at Akron upon his return. He got off to a good start in Triple-A and then had a pulled hamstring. If you’re counting at home, he’s had three injuries to his same surgically repaired left foot that started in college in 2022 and has had issues with it in 2023 and 2024. He had turf toe in his right foot, and then a hamstring issue. It’s apparent DeLauter was going to have a big league shot in 2024 if he stayed healthy. He already played in the AFL a year, with good results, and really doesn’t have much to gain there at this point. The pitching quality in the AFL is not good and the environment favors hitters anyway. This is just about reps at this point and trying to build up DeLauter’s stamina to play if he can stay healthy, which he has yet to do. Outside of hitting lefties in the minors, the results when he’s been healthy, have been good. Maybe he can work on his approach vs. LHP in the AFL, but they can’t control which pitchers he faces there either.
RHP Dylan DeLucia: This was an obvious fit for DeLucia and Cleveland provided he came back healthy from his Tommy John rehab at the end of 2022. After missing all of 2023 and half of 2024, DeLucia came back strong in the second half between Lynchburg and Lake County. He ended the year very strong, showing a velocity tick up at the end from 91-93 to 92-95 and touching 96. There’s ride on the fastball and a good slider. He had solid control for someone coming off TJ. This is very reminiscent of the Ryan Webb situation last year where he led the AFL in strikeouts. It’s the opposite of the DeLauter situation. DeLucia is coming back strong and healthy and if he excels in a hitter friendly league and environment, his stock should boost more.
RHP Alaska Abney: I didn’t intend to rank this by order of how much I’m interested in each player’s AFL campaign, but Abeny is third on the list I think anyway. The stuff is solid and obviously Cleveland would be hoping on unique pitch and release characteristics as Abney tops out at about 90 and is typically 88-89. He’s Rule 5 eligible this winter and this might be a way to get some extra looks at him, though I can’t imagine they don’t know everything they need to. I’m not a believer in “showcasing” but his pitching in this league might help other teams look at him more and maybe they can trade him ahead of the 40 man deadline.
C Kody Huff: I think the rule is that all teams have to send at least one catcher to the AFL, whether they’re on the full team or taxi squad (meaning they play or are on the roster to play two days a week). Huff is a good candidate here because he will turn 24 this winter and skipped High-A last year. He did get off to a solid start offensively in Double-A despite that, and came back to earth but still had a solid season. In the long run, Huff profiles as a defensive backup in the majors if he makes it. These will be good reps for him to get for those reasons. Beware of the offensive mirage in Arizona, but perhaps there will be some minor offensive threat that will allow him to crack the majors that blooms late.
LHP Andrew Misiaszek: There’s some chance Misiaszek is already in the majors if not for his Tommy John surgery. He needs the reps and is coming up on minor league free agency, so it’s a question of what interest he can attract with Cleveland or another team. He will be Rule 5 eligible as well. He has a very unique release and slider with depth, so as a lefty he might intrigue someone.
RHP Zak Kent: Cleveland traded some significant international bonus money to get Kent early in the year for depth. It’s a good slider with middling other stuff and he did at one time see a velocity spike in the past, but it didn’t hold. He missed a good chunk of time with an elbow injury this year. I think Cleveland wants to see if he can be a depth starter in 2025. He’s Rule 5 eligible and has one more year before he’s a minor league free agent.
RHP Allan Hernandez: Hernandez has upper-90s stuff and can miss bats. He’s not always sure where it’s going and got hurt at the end of the year. The slider is short and needs work. He’s Rule 5 eligible this year and hasn’t been above High-A so he needs the work. I doubt this leads to Cleveland adding him or another team swiping him at the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft.
INF Milan Tolentino: Left handed hitting shortstops are a nice commodity. Tolentino should be a solid defender at short and is capable at second and third as well. His arm isn’t an issue and he has some speed too. Tolentino comes up short on the offensive end, lacking enough contact and pop to profile as a big league regular without some development. The AFL probably won’t provide enough opportunity against AFL level pitching and an offensively charged environment. But he’ll have a chance to show himself for the Guardians brass and others, as he is Rule 5 eligible and being a good defender with speed, and hitting left handed with at least doubles pop makes him intriguing at the least.