Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report: 6/21/25

Juan Brito plays full game in rehab; Tugboat returns to dominance

Scoreboard

Columbus Clippers 4, Indianapolis Indians 1
Portland Sea Dogs 5, Akron RubberDucks 4
Lake County Captains 10, South Bend Cubs 5
Augusta GreenJackets 3, Lynchburg Hillcats 2
ACL Royal 4, ACL Guardians 1
DSL Mendoza 7, DSL Goryl 2

Rehab

Juan Brito (2B, ACL): 0-3, BB, K - Brito played a full game at second base in the ACL and is up to six rehab games overall. He should be in Columbus soon, or perhaps even in Cleveland when they return home on Tuesday?

Matt Jachec (RP, ACL): IP - Jachec had his first rehab outing in the ACL and it went perfectly.y

Highlights

Joey Cantillo (SP, Columbus): ND, 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K - Cantillo’s transition to a starting pitcher reached a new milestone as Cantillo got ten outs for the first time this season in a dominant that saw him retire nine batters in a row after a game-opening walk.

Aaron Davenport (RP, Columbus): W (1-0), 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (earned), 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR allowed - Davenport finished the rest of the game (although Matt Krook was warming up at the end) in an impressive piggyback effort that was his longest Triple-A outing so far.

Dayan Frias (3B, Akron): 2-3, 2B, BB - Frias has been on a bit of a hot streak recently and is showing some more of that pop he had in Lake County two years ago. His upside is still likely a utility infielder but we’ll have to see how he handles Triple-A later this year or next.

Joe Lampe (LF, Akron): 2-3, 2B, BB - Lampe has also seen some pop lately and has been able to break out of an early season struggle to show a little more. Nothing like he also showed in Lake County, but he’s also built different and different hitter since then. But it’s hard to say how much consistency he’ll be able to have doing that.

Juan Benjamin (3B, Lake County): 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB - Benjamin had quite the day, putting together a combo meal (homer and a steal). It’s his second homer this week and all year. He’s clearly seeing the ball quite well right now. Benjamin is smaller and is kind of interesting but nothing here to suggest he’s more than a utility infielder type at most.

Jonah Advincula (CF, Lake County): 1-3, HR, RBI, 2 BB, 4 SB - The Captains clearly had something on the South Bend catcher or the pitchers didn’t hold runners well, because Advincula swiped four bases, half of the eight steals they had on the game, including one by catcher Johnny Tincher. Advincula has been red hot in June and probably should be headed to Akron for the second half to be replaced by Tommy Hawke. Not that either of them have huge ceilings, but they need to push these guys along at some point when they perform well.

Matt Wilkinson (SP, Lake County): 5IP, H, ER, 2BB, 8K - Easily the best outing Wilkinson has had in quite some time, as he has struggled with his command and overall stuff this year at times, but he held a pretty good South Bend lineup to just one hit.

Luis Merejo (1B, Lynchburg): 2-4, HR, RBI, BB, 2K - We were really excited about Merejo coming into the year with his power and potential to hit, but he’s swung and missed a ton and had a hard time getting to his power. This was his ninth homer but overall it’s been a disappointing season.

Welbyn Francisca (SS, Lynchburg): 2-5, SB - Francisca has stayed hot after a slow start to the year. I don’t think he’s done quite enough for a Lake County promotion yet, but he should see High-A at some point in 2025.

Jonathan Martinez (SS, ACL): 2-5, SB - The 18 year old switch hitter is doing a good job in his second ACL campaign.

Jose Riera (SS, DSL Mendoza): 3-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SB, 2 CS - Riera's third straight multi-hit game led the way for Mendoza in a decisive victory over Goryl. As active as he was at the plate, however, he was even more so on the basepaths, with multiples of both successful unsuccessful stolen base attempts.

Alejandro Rivera (SP, DSL Mendoza): ND, 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R (earned), 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 WP, 2 K - Despite allowing his first earned run of the season, Rivera continued his impressive start to the season into his third four-inning effort, including in both “intrasquads” against Mendoza's Guardians Goryl organizationmates.

Notable Performances

Chase DeLauter (LF, Columbus): 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SF, 1 K - DeLauter reached twice on Saturday to extend his on-base streak to 21 games dating back to the last game of his rehab stint in the ACL.

Jorge Burgos (1B, Akron): 1-4, HR, 3 RBI - Burgos had real good early season pop but didn’t sustain it. His average is down to .209 and his OPS is near .700 again, so we know he has pop but doesn’t make near enough contact or consistency for this to be real.

Jake Miller (RP, Akron): 2.2IP, K - After allowing a run on June 18 for the first time in eight games, he went back to a multi inning scoreless outing and his ERA in June is 0.75 with 16 strikeouts and no walks in 12 innings.

Christian Knapczyk (2B, Lake County): 3-5, 2 RBI, SB - Once red hot himself, Knapczyk has cooled off a little but, but is still quite productive. I’d say he could see Akron in the second half, but I don’t know if any playing time would open up there and there’s no obvious player to replace him in Lake County at the moment.

Bennett Thompson (C, Lynchburg): 2-4, BB - Thompson probably needs to be in Lake County but there’s no playing time for him there unless they somehow reduce Tincher’s playing time. That being said, there’s no obvious candidate to replace Thompson either.

Cam Walty (SP, Lynchburg): 2IP, 3K - Walty is getting reacclimated on the mound from his pre season injury and has been solid while building up, even if the level isn’t all that competitive.

Rafe Schlesinger (PB SP, Lynchburg): 5IP, H, R, 2K - Not a lot of missed bats but Schlesinger was solid overall. Another arm that probably should be challenged at Lake County, but overall I still feel like Schlesinger’s best fit is the bullpen long term.

Juneiker Cacares (RF, ACL): 2-3, 2BB - Cacares keeps hitting in the ACL. He is someone who without a doubt should be in Lynchburg in the second half, especially since the official ACL will wind down here soon. Even though he’s 17, his approach seems mature.

Chase Mobley (SP, ACL): 2.2IP, H, 2 ER, BB, 6K - The 6 Ks are fun for Mobley, by far the best performance of his short career. We’ll see if Cleveland attempts to get him a few appearances in Lynchburg this year after the ACL winds down.

Tyler Naquin (RP, ACL): IP, ER, BB - No hits allowed for Naquin but he continues to have up and down outings as he works on his pitching transition.

Jefferson Vargas (2B, DSL Mendoza): 2-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB - Vargas was the only Mendoza hitter other than Riera to reach safely thrice on Saturday, with his first multi-hit game since his debut being highlighted by the opening of his professional extra-base hit account.

Robert Alvarez (C, DSL Mendoza): 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K - Alvarez ended a six-game 0-for-21 slump with a multi-hit effort that, like Vargas’, included his first professional extra-base hit.

Sebastian Cadiz (LF, DSL Mendoza): 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K - While Cadiz had previously hot a triple this season and had quintet of doubles across his first two professional campaigns, his pair of Saturday RBI came from his first official two-bagger of 2025.

Ricardo Romero (2B, DSL Goryl): 2-4 - Romero has now reached safely in eleven of his first twelve pro games after the only two-hit performance of a rough day at the plate for the Goryl squad.

Jose Marcano (1B, DSL Goryl): 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 K - Goryl's only RBI of the day was also the ninth of Marcano's now four-game RBI streak.