Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 6/27/24
Scoreboard:
Triple-A - Columbus Clippers 8, Omaha Storm Chasers 3
Double-A - Altoona Curve 6, Akron RubberDucks 4
High-A - Lake County Captains 13, Great Lakes Loons 3
Single-A - Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Carolina Mudcats 4
ACL - Rangers 12, Guardians 11
DSL - CLE Mendoza 7, CLE Goryl 6 (F/7)
Rehab:
Gavin Williams (SP, Columbus): 4IP, 3H, ER, 6K, 2BB, 82 pitches - Williams has completed his rehab stint at this point as his 30 days allotment is up. He got up to 82 pitches, despite a long second inning where he almost threw 30. Cleveland was hopeful he might get up to six innings, but he didn’t quite get there. He might incur some stamina issues initially in Cleveland, but the bar isn’t too high for him to start doing better than two or three current members of the rotation.
Dylan DeLucia (SP, ACL): ND, 3 IP, 3 H, 2 K, 1 Pickoff - DeLucia was once again impressive in his second professional outing, extending his career-opening shutout streak to five innings. While the ability to go longer would be a good thing to see before his rehab ends, he certainly seems ready to be part of a piggyback in Lynchburg right now. (NOTE: Complex league box scores do not include pitch counts, so there is no way to know where his current pitch limitations stand.)
Highlights:
Angel Martinez (RF, Columbus): 2-4, HR - Not only did Martinez homer, looking to stay hot as a hitter in Triple-A this year, he also played right field. He wasn’t recalled ahead of Jose Tena because it was too soon to recall Martinez due to the timing of his last callup and option, but that he got the call the first time is still impressive.
Jonah Advincula (LF, Lake County): 2-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB - Advincula started the game;s progress from a nailbiter to a comfortable victory with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. He followed that up by driving in one of the eighth-inning insurance runs on a fielder’s choice to reach the 30-RBI mark for the season. That wasn’t the only milestone he hit on Thursday, however, as he stole his 20th base of the 2024 campaign in the third.
Jorge Burgos (RF, Lake County): 3-4, 2 R, 1 H, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB - If Advincula’s homer gave the Captains breathing room, then Burgos’ two-run blast later in the frame was the start of the blowout the game ended up being. It also continued a pattern of Jorge providing the second jolt of offense in a big inning, as he did with the second of two RBI doubles in the third inning. The round-tripper was his third in his last four games, all of which have seen him amass 4+ total bases, a threshold he has passed in six of his last seven games and seven of his last ten.
Rorik Maltrud (SP, Lake County): W (1-0), 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R (earned), 4 BB, 5 K - Despite some control issues, especially at the start of the fourth frame, Maltrud looked impressive in his High-A debut and made it clear that his recent promotion from Single-A Lynchburg was well-earned. While Tugboat Wilkinson is taking up a lot of the headlines at the Corner of SOM Center and Vine, Maltrud’s starts are certainly also worthy of making an effort to see in person.
Welbyn Francisca (2B, ACL): 3-6, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 E - Francisca amassed six total bases in his second big night in the last seven days (7 TB last Thursday).
Abrahan Tejada (RP, DSL Mendoza): W (1-0), 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 Ks - Tejada settled down the opposing offense that had scored five runs in the last two-plus innings before he entered. Out of the eight batters he faced, he retired the first six before surrendering a walk and then recorded the final out of the game. It is the first time in five appearances this season that the 19-year-old right-hander kept opponents hitless.
Notable Performances:
Juan Brito (2B, Columbus): 2-4 - Brito has cooled off a bit lately but picked things back up here with two hits. We’ll keep an eye on the Guardians trying to add to his versatility and find a defensive home for the bat.
Kyle Manzardo (1B, Columbus): 1-4, HR - Manzardo has been OK since getting optioned down. Hopefully the Guardians are having him work on something specific, because he should still be part of this club’s future whether he’s on it or part of a trade, but either way, it’s kind of odd how the buzz has gone away about. The Guardians do want to get a look at a lot of other prospects right now, so there is that component to it.
CJ Kayfus (1B, Akron): 0-5, 3K - The hottest hitter in the system had a very rare off night vs. one of the best pitching prospects in the minors in Altoona’s Bubba Chandler (Pirates). It’s a VERY small sample, but you always want to look at how prospects perform against other top prospects. That’s not to say Kayfus isn’t going to be just time, but he had an off day against a guy who many consider to be a top pitching prospect in the moment.
Alexfri Planez (RF, Akron): 2-4, 2B - Planez continues to show flashes. The numbers aren’t great but it’s easy to see why he’s been an intriguing option.
Cooper Ingle (C, Lake County): 2-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HBP - Ingle reached four times, highlighted by a third-inning single that started the evening’s scoring, to extend his on-base streak to 13 games.
Jose Devers (3B, Lake County): 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K - Devers also saw the basepaths four times, tying his season-high (May 1 vs. Fort Wayne).
Alex Mooney (SS, Lake County): 0-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 SB - While his offensive statline was unimpressive, Mooney made several spectacular plays in the field, including some that don’t show up in the boxscore as the TinCap batters just barely beat a couple of Alex’s flashier throws.
Guy Lipscomb (CF, Lake County): 1-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HBP, 2 K, 1 SB - While the obvious highlight of Lipscomb’s night was his eighth-inning RBI single, what makes it truly notable was his crazy trip around the bases two frames earlier: He was hit by a itch, stole second (advancing to third when the caught stealing attempt ended up in center field), and scored soon after on a balk.
Matt Jachec (RP, Lake County): H (1), 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R (earned), 3 BB, 5 K - While coming out for a third inning proved to be a bridge too far for Jachec, his first two frames were impressive and a significant improvement over his High-A debut (also allowed two earned runs while only getting the same number of outs).
Esteban Gonzalez (CF, Lynchburg): 3-5, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI - Gonzalez continues to hit impressively at Low-A, putting up even better than Jaison Chourio. He is 21, so it would be good for him to also get a move up here soon.
Rafael Ramirez Jr. (SS, Lynchburg): 2-4, 2B, K - It has been a TOUGH go offensively for Ramirez. He’s had a hard time adjusting to non-complex pitching, which as we’ve said, isn’t the best quality. So that is alarming. Hopefully he just takes longer to develop vs. being a bust. Too soon to say, but those swing and miss concerns have shown up already.
David Leon (backup C, ACL): 2-2, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI - Leon was perfect at the plate as the backup backstop last night, including a sixth-inning grand slam that gave the A-Guards their first lead of the evening and nearly doubled his season RBI total (now at nine).
Juneiker Caceres (CF, DSL Mendoza): 1-for-1, 2 R, 2B, 3 BBs, IBB - The 16-year-old was able to reach base on all four of his plate appearances after drawing three walks on the day. His lone hit was a double and three of his last four hits have gone for extra bases (two doubles and one triple).
Gabriel Rodriguez (SS, DSL Mendoza): 2-for-3, R, BB, E6T - A multi-hit game for the highly-touted Rodriguez, his second in the last three games and he extends his on-base streak to 11 in a row.
Reiner Herrera (C, DSL Goryl): 2-for-2, R, RBI, BB - An unexpected entry into the game in the second inning provided Herrera with the opportunity to reach base in all three plate appearances. A pair of singles and a walk was his day at the plate.
Emilio Taveras (1B, DSL Goryl): 1-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBIs, BB, E3F - Taveras launched his first homerun in his ninth game of 2024 in Thursday’s loss, but also was charged with an error defensively.