Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 5/1/24
Scoreboard:
Triple-A: Columbus Clippers 14, Toledo Mud Hens 8
Double-A: Akron RubberDucks 7, Richmond Flying Squirrels 2
High-A: Lake County Captains 7, Fort Wayne TinCaps 6
Single-A: G1 - Lynchburg Hillcats 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 6 (F/10 - Continuation of 4/30 suspension); G2 - Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 0 (F/7)
Rehab:
RP Sam Hentges (Columbus): W (1-0), 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2 Ks - In what Guardians fans hope is his final rehab appearance, he went two innings of hitless and scoreless baseball and calmed down bats that had put up eight runs prior to him entering from the bullpen. The southpaw tossed 24 pitches (12 strikes) and hit 95 mph on the fastball.
Highlights:
LF Johnathan Rodriguez (Columbus): 2-for-5, 2 R, HR, 4 RBIs - If not for the first inning grand slam by Rodriguez, the Clippers might not have overcome the six spot Toledo slugged in the top of the first. The longball was tracked at 106.2 mph off the bat and both of his hits were over 100 mph.
https://x.com/CLBClippers/status/1785810371321733544
SS Daniel Schneemann (Columbus): 3-for-5, R, HR, 4 RBIs, DP - Schneemann also had a homerun for the team on Wednesday and tied Rodriguez with four RBIs. His three-run bomb in the fourth inning propelled Columbus to a 12-8 lead. It was hit at 103.8 mph and traveled 409 feet and this marks his second straight game with a homerun.
1B Kyle Manzardo (Columbus): 3-for-4, 4 R, 2 2Bs, HR, RBI, BB, DP - All three hits on the day for Manzardo resulted in extra bases, highlighted by his eighth homerun of the young 2024 season. His three hits were all over 100 mph off the bat and were inside the top eight of all batted balls in the game. All four times he reached base, he came around to score.
https://x.com/MLBPipeline/status/1785841030379536411
RF George Valera (Columbus): 2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, 2 BBs - Valera reached base four times in his first game of the season with two hits (a single and a double). He looks to be back and hopefully can continue to carry this momentum in the month of May.
SP Rodney Boone (Akron): W (2-0), 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BBs, 5 Ks, DP - Have a day, Rodney Boone! This ties his longest outing of Boone’s professional career as he peppered the strike zone for 61 strikes on 80 pitches. He did surrender a pair of solo homeruns, but he did not do anything to hurt himself further with no walks. He lowers his ERA to 2.84 with a WHIP under one at 0.91 in 2024.
1B Joe Naranjo (Akron): 3-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBIs, DP - Four of the team’s seven runs came off the bat of Naranjo on Wednesday and his three-run homerun was his first of 2024. He added an RBI single as well later in the night to increase the team’s lead as the RubberDucks won their ninth straight game.
https://x.com/AkronRubberDuck/status/1785826217372885206
SS Jose Devers (Lake County): 3-for-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBIs, BB, E6F - Devers bookended the scoring for the Captains and each of his final four plate appearances resulted in a hit or a run scored. In the bottom of the fifth, Devers clobbered his first homerun of the season and High-A career to cut into the Fort Wayne lead at 4-1 and concluded the game with a walk-off bases loaded walk. The 20-year-old now has a trifecta of hits in three straight games and the team has won seven in a row.
https://x.com/LCCaptains/status/1785720250085802375
1B CJ Kayfus (Lake County): 2-for-5, R, 2 RBIs, GIDP - The hottest man in the Captains’ lineup was positioned perfectly in the bottom of the ninth for a two-run single to tie the score at 6-6. He would add a single in the sixth inning right back up the middle. The Miami alum has now hit safely in seven straight games and is leading the team with a .356 batting average and 1.019 OPS.
SS Angel Genao (G1 - Lynchburg): 3-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs - Genao was a triple short of the cycle in total after collecting three hits just in the Wednesday portion of the game. He was also the man who slugged the team’s walk-off two-run homerun immediately following a double play that could have sucked the life out of the team.
https://x.com/MiLB/status/1785818814858617176
RP Rorik Maltrud (G1 - Lynchburg): 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, WP - Maltrud picked up where the game was left off due to rain last night in the fourth and got the Hillcats through regulation with over four innings of work. He tied his season-low with two hits allowed and it was his first appearance of the year without surrendering a run. He fanned six on the back of an eight-K performance in his last outing.
SP Matt Wilkinson (G2 - Lynchburg): W (3-0), 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BBs, 5 Ks, PO, WP - Tugboat has gotten off to such a hot start that this outing is considered “ho-hum” for the lefty. His K-rate actually went down by only retiring five batters on strikes in five innings of work, but his ERA was lowered to a miniscule 0.35 thus far. He tied his season-high in walks, but just like in that appearance, he put up zeros in every inning, so you can’t complain too much.
RP Jack Jasiak (G2 - Lynchburg): S (1), 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 2 Ks - After being baffled by the big lefty, Jasiak continued the opponent’s confusion as he sat down all six hitters he faced to lock up the save. He was able to strikeout the first two batters in the sixth and utilized his defense to retire the side in the seventh and final frame.
Notable Performances:
CF Myles Straw (Columbus): 3-for-6, 2 R, 3B, HR, RBI - Straw turned the page to May in a big way with a triple and his first homerun in Columbus this season. It is his second three-hit game of the year and first time he has hit eight total bases in a game.
RP John Doxakis (Columbus): H (1), 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 Ks - Doxakis continued where Hentges left off and kept the Mud Hens without a run and without a hit over three innings of work. He drew seven whiffs on 20 total swings, three apiece coming on the sinker and the slider.
2B Jose Tena (Columbus): 2-for-4, RBI, BB, DP - Tena added a multi-hit game to his ledger with a walk as well. His single in the third allowed the team to take the lead at the time, 8-7.
RP Anthony Banda (Columbus): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 2 Ks - The lefty struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap up the victory.
SS Yordys Valdes (Akron): 2-for-4, 2 R, SB, DP - Valdes had a multi-hit game, swiped his second bag of the year and scored twice. It is his third consecutive contest with multiple hits.
C Kody Huff (Akron): 1-for-3, R, HR, RBI, BB - A solo homerun off the bat of the catcher Huff in the sixth carried on the scoring after a four-run fifth. It is his second homerun of the year and each of his last three hits have gone for extra bases.
https://x.com/AkronRubberDuck/status/1785824400324825214
RP Andrew Walters (Akron): 1.1 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 Ks - This makes it seven straight appearances for Walters without allowing a run as he reduces his ERA to 0.79 in 2024.
RP Erik Sabrowski (Akron): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 2 Ks - Sabrowski struck out both batters he faced on Wednesday to give him 19 K’s in 9.1 innings of relief work in Akron.
CF Jake Fox (Lake County): 2-for-5, R, 2B, OF assist - Fox had a pair of hits and displayed poise in the outfield to save a run from crossing the plate. His ground-rule double in the ninth helped to put him in scoring position as the game’s tying run and in the top of the fourth, he threw out a runner attempting to score.
2B Alex Mooney (Lake County): 1-for-3, R, 2B, RBI, 2 BBs, SB - Mooney reached base three times thanks to a pair of walks and hit his sixth double of the year to tie Cooper Ingle for the team lead. The RBI double helped spark a three-run seventh and get Lake County back in the game.
LF Guy Lipscomb (Lake County): 2-for-5, R, CS - Lipscomb had multiple hits from the lead-off spot in the Captains order.
RF Wuilfredo Antunez (G1 - Lynchburg): 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, BB - Antunez’s double in the seventh helped keep the train moving and drove in a run on top of his bases loaded walk he drew early in the game.
LF Luis Durango (G1 - Lynchburg): 2-for-5, RBI, 2 SBs - Durango drove in a run in the eighth to cut the gap to 5-4 and immediately swiped second base to put himself in scoring position as the go-ahead run. He had two successful steals in total.
2B Christian Knapczyk (G1 - Lynchburg): 0-for-2, 3 R, 4 BBs - He was trouble on the basepaths despite not recording a hit with four walks, three of them resulting in runs scored.
C Robert Lopez (G2 - Lynchburg): 1-for-2, 2 RBI, BB, PB - Lopez plated the first run of the game via a bases loaded walk and an RBI single later in the game made him the only man with multiple RBIs in game two.
SS Angel Genao (G2 - Lynchburg): 1-for-2, 2 R, 2B, BB - The lone extra base hit for the Hillcats in game two belonged to Genao. He scored on his double and his walk.