Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 6/23/24
Triple-A - Columbus Clippers 9. Worcester Red Sox 7
Double-A - Akron RubberDucks 1, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 0 (5 innings - rain)
High-A - South Bend Cubs 10, Lake County Captains 3
Single-A - Lynchburg Hillcats 7, Charleston RiverDogs 5
HIGHLIGHTS
Christian Cairo (Columbus, 3B): 3-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB - Cairo finished his third week in Triple-A With not only his best performance as a Clipper, but an utterly dominant one. This perfect day at the plate included a pair of clutch hits: a double to start the team’s first rally in the seventh and a single two frames later to give the Clip Show their first lead of the afternoon. Hopefully, this is the start of Christian starting to thrive at the top tier of the minors.
Jose Tena (Columbus, SS): 2-6, 2 RBI, 1 K,1 SB - Tena continued to rake on Sunday, capping a nine-RBI week (his second straight series with 9+ RBI after he drove in ten during the previous homestand against the Iowa Cubs) by driving in a run on a single in back-to-back frames (7th and 8th), each time getting the Clippers within one run of the WooSox. Getting back to those two RBI-laden weeks, his slash line in those twelve games is .368/.383/.719. Will it be enough to earn him another shot at the Corner of Carnegie and Ontario?
Myles Straw (Columbus, CF): 2-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SB - Speaking of 2023 Guardians trying to get back up I-71 to the Big Club, Straw broke out of a 2-for-22 slump with a multi-hit performance reminiscent of his early-month form. His ninth-inning double was especially notable as it tied the game at seven runs apiece.
Jhonkensy Noel (Columbus, 1B): 1-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI - Noel got the Clippers’ scoring started in Sunday with a solo shot to dead center in the fourth that extended his league-leading RBI total to 59, which will likely see him three ahead of Tena’s 56 for the lead among current International Leaguers if the Orioles call up Heston Kjerstad today as has been rumored.
Parker Messick (Akron, SP): CG, W (1-0), 5 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K - Messick impressed in his Double-A debut, striking out four (including the first Eastern League batter he ever faced) in a rain-shortened complete game shutout. It has been heartening to see the Captains’ first-half dominance confirmed by instant success of some of their key players in Akron.
Tommy Hawke (Lynchburg, CF): 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K - Hawke continued to break out of his rough start to the month of June on Sunday with this stellar performance highlighted by a three-run homer in the fifth that gave the Hillcats tier first lead of the evening. Over the last two days, Tommy is a combined 5-for-9 with four runs scored, the same number driven in, and one of each kind of extra-base hit. While his two-game slash line of .555/.600/1.222 is obviously not sustainable, hopefully the positive momentum he has generated for himself this weekend is.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Kyle Manzardo (Columbus, DH): 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB - Manzardo reached thrice on Sunday, including on a game-tying bases-loaded walk in the seventh.
George Valera (Columbus, LF): 1-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K - Valera’s RBI double started the scoring in the top of the ninth.
Ray Delgado (Columbus, 2B): 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB,1 Sac Bunt, 1 K - A productive day - including doubling in an insurance run in the ninth - for Delgado, who has been bouncing on and off the Development List recently.
Joe Lampe (Akron, LF): 2-2 - Lampe now has a pair of six-game hitting streaks within his current 14-game on-base streak following his fourth multi-base game of the Binghamton series.
Gabriel Rodriguez (Akron, 3B): 1-2, 1 2B, 1 RBI - In only his second game of the season, Rodriguez made a big impact by driving in the game’s only run on his first official hit of the 2024 campaign.
Dayan Frias (Akron, 2B): 1-2, 1 R - Frias scored the aforementioned run for his fourth of the week.
Kahlil Watson (Akron, CF): 1-2, 1 K - Watson extended his on-base streak to ten games with one of the RubberDucks’ five Sunday hits.
Jorge Burgos (Lake County,. LF): 3-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K - Burgos put a bow on an impressive week in South Bend (8-for-20, 3 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, .400/.455/.850), with this three-hit performance.
Zac Fascia (Lake County, DH): 2-3, 1 R, 1 HR,1 RBI - Fascia briefly tied the game at two in the second inning with his second home run of the season. That’s a lot of twos.
Maick Collado (Lake County, 1B): 1-4, 1 RBI, 2 K - Collado extended his on-base and hitting streaks to nine and six games, respectively, with an RBI single in the first.
Jay Driver (Lake County, RP): 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K - Driver’s ERA now stands at 0.42 after his sixteenth straight scoreless outing (19.1 combined innings) dating back to April 17.
Juan Benjamin (Lynchburg, 3B): 1-4, 1 R, 1 K - Benjamin fared well in Charleston, South Carolina last week, going 6-for-15 in four games played against the Rays affiliate.
Manuel Mejias (Lynchburg, C): 0-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 PB - While Mejias has struggled with the bat this season, his plate discipline has been stellar (35:31 K:BB ratio and .131 isolated plate discipline). Byt the way, some context in the isolated plate discipline metric - Steven Kwan’s is .058 this season with a career best of .088 last year.
Jose Pastrano (Lynchburg, 2B): 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB - Pastrano has been similarly masterful at drawing walks (37:26, .134).
Kyle Scott (Lynchburg, SP): ND, 3 IP, 1 R (earned), 3 BB, 1 BK, 1 K - Scott’s starter/reliever splits this season have been fascinating. His ERA, WHIP, and opponents’ batting average are much better as a starter (2.37, 0.95, and .182 respectively compared to 3.51, 1.29, and .225 out of the bullpen) but his 34:10 (3.40) K:BB ratio as a reliever is far better than the 14:6 (2.33) he has posted in starts.