Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 7/9/24

Triple-A - Columbus Clippers at Indianapolis Indians (PPD to 7/11 - Rain)
Double-A - Akron RubberDucks 19, Reading Fightin’ Phils 3
High-A - Lake County Captains 7, Lansing Lugnuts 6 (F/11)
Single-A - Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Lynchburg Hillcats 1
DSL - Pirates Black 4, Guardians Mendoza 0 (Susp/5 - Rain - completion TBA)
DSL - Guardians Goryl 0, Red Sox Red 0 (Susp/5 - Rain - completion 8/10)

HIGHLIGHTS

C.J. Kayfus (LF-1B, Akron): 2-6, 3 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K - Kayfus continued his dominance of Eastern League hurlers with a pair of homers in Tuesday’s series opener in Reading.  The round-trippers were his seventh and eighth as a RubberDuck and brought his Double-A RBI total to 33 in only 124 plate appearances.  No wonder his Akron slash line is .317/.435/.644!

Alexfri Planez (RF, Akron): 4-6, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI - While he only homered once, Planez equaled Kayfus’ eight total bases through sheer volume in a four-hot effort that represented a masterful rebound from an 0-for-8, four strikeout weekend in Pennsylvania.

Joe Lampe (DH, Akron): 4-6, 3 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB - Lampe was also among the trio of four-hit RubberDucks with his three-run performance that included Akron;s lone triple of the evening - Joe’s third extra-base hit in his last four games (homered twice against Erie last week).

Kody Huff (C, Akron): 4-6, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SB - Huff’s four-hit performance was his third multi-hit game of a July which has seen him start with a .391/.444/.522 slash after he hit .179 with with sub-.530 OPSs in both May and June.

Petey Halpin (CF, Akron): 3-4, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB - Halpin reached base a team-high five times in his second six-base performance in as many games.

Kahlil Watson (starting 2B, Akron): 2-3, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 SB - Watson seemed to be on pace for a similarly consistent evening until he suffered an injury in the top of third while scoring the eleventh RubberDuck run of the game.  No word on the severity of the injury as of publication time.  Hopefully, it's not serious.

Tommy Mace (SP, Akron): W (7-3), 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR allowed - Mace recovered from a pair of suboptimal starts (combined 11 ER on 19 H in 9.2 IP) by coming within one bad pitch of six shutout frames.

Cooper Ingle (starting C, Lake County): 2-5, 1 R 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K - Ingle got the Captains coring started on a fourth-inning solo shot and came up clutch in extras by singling in the tying run in the tenth before being pulled for pinch runner Tyresse Turner.  His pair of RBI brought his season total to 44 good for a tie for the team lead (more about that later) and tenth in the Midwest League.

Jake Fox (CF, Lake County): 2-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K - Fox had the Captains’ other extra-base hit of the evening - also a solo shot - a part of a statline that was a carbon copy of Ingle’s.  If you’re going to exactly match someone’s numbers in High-A, Ingle’s not a bad guy to mimic.

Alex Mooney (3B, Lake County): 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB - Mooney is the other half of the Eastlake nine’s 44-RBI club, reaching the mark by driving on the first of the Captains’ tenth-inning tallies.  Two frames earlier, he stole third as part of a successful double steal to extend his team-leading (and fourth in the MWL) tally to 31.

Juan Benjamin (3B, Lynchburg): 3-3, 1 BB, 1 E - Benjamin extended the Lynchburg side’s second-longest active hit streak to eight games with this perfect night at the plate. During the streak, which started June 29, Juan is slashing .464/.484/.643 and has improved his season OPS 67 points (from .630 to .697).

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

Connor Kokx (backup LF, Akron): 2-3 - Kokx performed admirably on short notice after Watson had to leave the game.

Yordys Valdes (SS, Akron): 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB - Even the bottom of the lineup was raking for the Mallards of Main Street last night as Valdes went multi-hit and multi-RBI from the nine hole.

Aaron Bracho (1B-2B, Akron): 2-6, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, 1 E - A rare two-day break in the minor league schedule couldn’t cool down Bracho, who made it three two-hit games in a row.

Jorge Burgos (starting DH, Lake County): 2-4, 1 SB - Burgos, who stole second as the other half of the aforementioned double steal, was one of three Captains to reach base thrice in Tuesday’s rain-delayed contest.

Guy Lipscomb (RF, Lake County): 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI ,1 BB, Picked Off 1 time - The highlight of Lipscomb’s two-hit performance came in the 11th, when he singled in extra runner (and SS) Jose Devers to once again tie the game.

Angel Genao (2B, Lake County): 1-6, 1 RBI - Genao had a quiet first ten frames, but he more than made up for all of  that by ending the game in the Captains’ favor with a walk-off single in the 11th that sent the fans at the Corner of SOM Center and Vine home happy five hours and 31 minutes after the gates opened at Classic Auto Group Park.

Jaison Chourio (CF. Lynchburg): 2-5, 1 R, 2 SB - Chourio stole his 27th and 28th base of the 2024 campaign and scored the Hillcats’ only run on Tuesday.

Esteban Gonzalez (DH, Lynchburg): 1-4, 1 K - Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 16 games on a fourth-inning single.

Tommy Hawke (LF, Lynchburg): 0-3, 2 BB, 1 K - Hawke’s on-base streak also continued - in his case to 24 games - thanks to a pair of walks.

Jack Jasiak (RP, Lynchburg): 4 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K - Jasiak has been unstoppable recently, hurling four shutout frames in each of his last two outings of significant length, while retiring the only batter he faced in the intervening appearance.