Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 7/17-18/25

Travis Bazzana returns with a multi-hit game; Dylan DeLucia dominates at Double-A; DeLauter remains out with a wrist issue in Triple-A

SCOREBOARD

Columbus Clippers 5, Iowa Cubs 4 (F/10) - Statcast
Altoona Curve 2, Akron RubberDucks 1 (F/10)
Lake County Captains 4, Fort Wayne TinCaps 2
Lynchburg Hillcats at Fredericksburg Nationals (PPD - Rain)
ACL Reds 5, ACL Guardians 1 (F/7 - Scheduled)
DSL Red Sox Red 4, DSL Guardians Mendoza 0 (F/6 - Rain)
DSL Reds 5, DSL Guardians Goryl 0 (SUSP/2 - Rain)
ACL Guardians 6, ACL White Sox 5 (F/12 - Thursday)
DSL Braves 8, DSL Guardians Mendoza 3 (Thursday)
DSL Cubs Blue 6, DSL Guardians Goryl 5 (F/7 - scheduled - Thursday)

REHAB

Gabriel Arias (starting SS, Columbus): 0-2, 1 BB - Arias got his rehab stint started on Friday night in Des Moines, playing five innings at shortstop.

George Valera (starting RF, ACL - Thursday): 1-4, 1 K - Valera played seven innings in right field and was pinch run for in the bottom of the seventh following a single to center.

Alaska Abney (RP, ACL - Friday): 1.2IP, 4K - Solid rehab outing for Abney as he tries to work his way back to maybe Columbus but it’s hard to see where he fits in the future here.

HIGHLIGHTS

Travis Bazzana (starting 2B, Akron): 2-4, 1 K - Bazzana got a pair of hits in his return to non-complex and non-rehab baseball. Don't worry about the “starting” part as he was pinch hit for in the tenth as he is likely not quite ready to play extras yet.

Dylan Delucia (SP, Akron): ND, 5 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K - DeLucia rebounded from allowing a trio of earned runs in his last start before the Break with his third scoreless effort in seven Double-A outings since being called up from High-A Lake County in early June.

Juan Benjamin (3B, Lake County): 3-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SB - Benjamin may have batted ninth on Friday night, but he led the way for the Captains, getting a hit in all three plate appearances - including the team’s only extra-base hit of the night - while also being responsible for both of their RBI on the evening and stealing third base twice.

Luis De La Cruz (1B, ACL - Thursday): 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HBP, 3 SB - De La Cruz’s stolen base total stood at twenty following his second straight game with three steals (including swiping both second and third in the second frame). Both of his RBI hits came off of former major leaguer Noah Syndegaard, who is NOT in the ACL on a rehab assignment, including a go-ahead single in the fourth that ran Thor from the game. Guardians connection: Syndegaard pitched his most recent major start for Cleveland in Toronto on August 27, 2023.

Yeiferth Castillo (LF, ACL - Thursday): 3-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 SB - Castillo got his batting average back over the .300 mark (.303) after a five-game stretch without a multi-hit performance. The first two-thirds of Yeiferth’s slash line are looking similar to his rookie season last year in the DSL (.303/.380 this year vs. .301/.389 in 2024), but his first five professional home runs have improved his slugging percentage from .366 to .455.

Angel Abreu (CF, Goryl - Thursday): 2-3, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI,1 BB, 1 SB - Abreu was hot over the major league All-Star Break, going 6-for-13 with five runs scored and opening his professional triples account with an RBI three-bagger in the top of sixth on Thursday.

Rodny Rosario (2B, Goryl - Thursday): 1-2, 1 R, 1 3B, 2 BB, 1 K - Rosario, like Abreu, raked during the MLB ASB, reaching thrice and amassing three total bases in each of Goryl’s three contests during said stretch. He changed things up a bit, however, on Thursday, following up a pair of three-single games - part of a four multi-hit games out of five stretch - with a triple and a pair of walks.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

C.J. Kayfus (LF, Columbus): 1-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 3 K - After an 0-for-4 effort in his last game before the Futures Game, Kayfus resumed normal service by reaching thrice on Friday night.

Dayan Frias (1B, Columbus): 1-6, 1 2B,1 RBI, 2 K - Frias’ tenth-inning double drove in Kayfus (who was the extra runner) for the eventual game-winning run.

Kody Huff (C, Columbus): 3-5, 1 RBI, 1 BB - Huff reached safely four times for the first time this season in his third three-hit game of the campaign.

Milan Tolentino (3B-SS, Columbus): 1-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K - Like Huff, Tolentino came up huge in the Clips’ return from the Break despite a generally unremarkable season as a whole.

Dom Nunez (DH, Columbus): 0-2, 1 R, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 SB - Nunez’s quartet of walks, which equaled his career high (last achieved by Dom in 2017), rounded out the quartet of four-basepath appearance games from unlikely sources.

Christian Cairo (CF-3B, Columbus): 0-4, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 SB - Cairo stole both second and third in the top of the seventh.

Cooper Ingle (C, Akron): 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K - Ingle picked up where he left off before the break by extending his on-base streak to seven games with this 24th double of the campaign, continuing a stellar July (.359/.479/.641) in the process.

Joe Lampe (LF, Akron): 1-2, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 HBP - Lampe reached thrice on his return to Double-A following a pre-ASB cup of coffee in Columbus courtesy of a pair of Clippers being named to the American League Futures Game squad.

Steven Perez (RP, Akron): 2 IP, 1 HBP, 1 K - Perez has been nearly perfect in July, posting a 0.93 ERA and 0.72 WHIP while holding Eastern League hitters to a .129 batting average.

Nick Mitchell (DH, Lake County): 1-3, 1 R - Mitchell singled and later scored in his second High-A plate appearance after nearly homering in his first.

Ralphy Velazquez (1B, Lake County): 1-4 - After getting a hit in all five games he played in the pre-Break series in Grand Rapids, Velazquez singled in the first to extend his on-base streak to 14 games and also made a spectacular catch in foul territory to get the Caps out of a jam in the top of the eighth. All of this on the day he replaced now-big leaguer Jac Caglianone on MLB Pipeline's Top 10 1B Prospects list.

Jose Devers (SS, Lake County): 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K - Devers reached safely for the seventh straight game to continue an impressive July (.320/.414/.680 with five homers and 16 RBI)

Izaak Martinez (RP, Lake County): W (1-0), 3 IP, 1 BB, 1 K - After starter Matt Wilkinson was limited to three frames due to a pitch count that had already reached 71, Martinez dominated the middle innings to pick up his first High-A individual victory.

Jack Jasiak (RP, Lake County): S (9), 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K - After being rescued from the aforementioned eighth-inning ham by Velazquez, Jasiak dominated in the ninth to put away the TinCaps.

Gabriel Rodriguez (3B-SS, ACL - Thursday): 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB (intentional), 1 K - One of Rodriguez’s two singles in his fifth multi-hit effort of the month came off of Syndergaard in the fourth, tying the game for the first time since it was 0-0.

Robert Arias (CF, ACL - Thursday): 1-5, 2 K, 1 SB, 1 Outfield Assist - Arias’ first-inning steal of second extended his domestic complex ball-leading total to 26.

Joelvis Perez (RP, ACL - Thursday): 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K - Perez remains unscored upon in 4.2 July innings (and has allowed only one earned run in his last 10.2 frames) after this stellar effort to close out regulation with the game still tied.

Keegan Zinn (SP, ACL - Friday): 3.2IP, 2H, 4ER, 2BB, 8K - 8 strikeouts is pretty good when you only retire 11 batters. But the four earned runs aren’t great either. When Zinn was drafted, I was very interested in him as a sleeper, under the radar arm. Still waiting to see that in Arizona.

Jonathan Martinez (3B, ACL - Friday): 2-3, 2B, 2 SB - Not many guys in the ACL hit Friday but Martinez did almost all the work by himself. The 18 year old hasn’t hit a ton but he gets on base.

Luis Garcia (SS, Mendoza - Thursday): 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 SB - Garcia’s second multi-hit performance in seven days led the way for an anemic Mendoza offense on Thursday.

Alejando Blasco (1B, Mendoza -Thursday): 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K - Blasco’s RBI single was the only RBI hit Mendoza would get on Thursday (The other two runs scored later in the third - one on a bases-loaded walk and another on a bases-loaded HBP.).

Alejandro Rivera (SP, Mendoza - Thursday): 2 IP, 2 BB, 3 K - While Rivera continued his dominant sophomore campaign in the DSL (0.69 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .186 opponents’ batting average), it is concerning that he was pulled after only two frames after going a full four in each of his first six starts of the season.

Heins Brito (SS, Goryl - Thursday): 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 SB, 1 E - Brito’s pair of stolen bases brought him within one of becoming the first Goryl player to reach double digits this season.

Randy Martinez (3B, Goryl - Thursday): 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB, 1 CS - Martinez’s multi-RBI Thursday extended his productive plate appearance streak in games with multiple plate appearances to 15 contests.

Daniel Gentile (SP, Goryl - Thursday): ND, 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K - This stellar effort continued a solid rookie season for Gentile (2.93 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and .200 opponents’ batting average).

Algeni Mejia (RP, Goryl - Thursday): H (3), 1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K - Mejia has allowed only one earned run in five combined July frames.