Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 6/6/24

Scoreboard:

Triple-A - Columbus Clippers 23, Indianapolis Indians 5
Double-A - Akron RubberDucks 9, Portland Sea Dogs 7
High-A (GM 1): Lake County Captains 4, Beloit Sky Carp 0 (F/7)
High-A (GM2): Beloit Sky Carp 8, Lake County Captains 5 (F/7)
Single-A (GM1): Delmarva Shorebirds 5, Lynchburg Hillcats 4 (F/7)
Single-A (GM2): Lynchburg Hillcats 12, Delmarva Shorebirds 0 (F/7)
ACL - Guardians 5, White Sox 4
DSL - Brewers 1 9, Guardians Mendoza 2
DSL - Guardians Goryl 7, Dodgers Mega 6

Highlights:

Johnathan Rodriguez (Columbus, LF): 3-7, 3 HR, 9 RBI - Rodriguez had a whole game in the eighth and ninth inning. He hit a two run homer in the eighth, a three run homer in the ninth, then a grand slam in the ninth as the Clippers put up a 12 run ninth. To be fair, the grand slam came off of a position player.

Bryan Lavastida (Columbus, C): 3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB - Lavastida also went deep twice in the ninth, once off the position player. He’s had a good series in Indianapolis.

George Valera (Columbus, RF): 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K - Valera has been hot this series as well and has been hitting better over the last two series, at least showing positive signs.

Micah Pries (Columbus, DH): 3-6, HR, 3 RBI- That’s two homer in the last two days for Pries now.

C.J. Kayfus (Akron, 1B): 3-5, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K - Kayfus continues to make the Sea Dog pitching staff look as foolish as the Midwest League hurlers who dared to challenge him in High-A.  Through three Double-A ballgames, Kayfus is 7-for-12 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and eight RBI - all of that good for a .583/.643/1.167 slash line.  While some regression is inevitable (unless he’s really THIS good, in which case he should be in a Guardians jersey yesterday), it is starting to seem like he may actually already belong at the Double-A level.

Joe Lampe (Akron, LF): 3-5, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB - Lampe not only matched his two singles and a double from Wednesday night, he improved upon it by scoring three runs and driving in four (the latter a full quarter of his season total).  Hopefully, we are seeing the beginning of a breakout from him.

Milan Tolentino (Akron, 3B): 3-4, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS - Tolentino also continued a hot streak on Thursday with a pair of doubles bringing his last three games’ stat line to: 6-for-11 with five runs scored, two driven, a trio of doubles, a homer, and a 1:3 K:BB ratio..  That’s a .545/.643/1.091 lash line, for those wondering.

Aaron Davenport (Akron, SP): ND, 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R (both earned), 1 BB, 1 HBP, 6 K - While the pair of tuns did bring his ERA back over 2.00 (barely - it’s 2.02), Davenport’s kept up both the consistency (4.2+ IP with 3 or less ER allowed in every one of his 2024 starts) and torrid strikeout rate ( 4+ K in ten of his twelve starts - resulting in a 53:20 K:BB ratio and 8.22 K/9) that have marked his season so far.

SP Parker Messick (Lake County, G1): W (4-4), 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 11 Ks, HBP - Two of the last three starts for Messick have had double-digit punchouts and zero runs off the southpaw. He started the game strong with four consecutive strikeouts en route to tying his career-best. The former Florida State Seminole worked out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth after he struck out the side in that frame as well. He has the second-highest K/9 in the Midwest League this year at 10.83.

1B Maick Collado (Lake County, G1): 1-for-1, 2 RBIs, 3 BBs - Collado reached base in all four of his plate appearances, despite three of them being without recording a hit. His lone single of the day was a big one that doubled the Captains’ lead and squashed any hopes of a comeback for the Sky Carp in game one. The 21-year-old has driven in runs in each of his last three contests.

Kyle Scott (Lynchburg SP): 5IP, 2H, 6K - Scott was pitching very well as Matt Wilkinson’s piggyback starter and is now getting starts of his own and looked pretty good here.

Jaison Chourio (Lynchburg, CF): 3-4, HR, 3 RBI - Another huge day for Chourio, who looks like he’s ready for High-A as soon as at bats open up there. He hit an opposite field three run homer that looked like it had some unusual carry but a strong hit nonetheless.

Juan Benjamin (Lynchburg, 3B): 2-4, HR, 4 RBI - Benjamin hit better in 2023 and is off to a bad start in 2024 so this really has been his biggest game.

C Robert Lopez (Lynchburg, G1): 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 2Bs, RBI, DP - A two-out double off the bat of Lopez in the second led to a run scored and he would follow that up with another two-base hit in the seventh, that one driving in a run. He would score on a double in the next at-bat to take the lead in the final scheduled inning. The last six games have featured three multi-hit games and a .381 average (9-for-21).

Jacob Bresnahan (ACL, SP): 4IP, 4H, 2R (1 ER), 6K - The 18 year old 13th rounder from 2023 has 14 Ks in his last two starts covering 8.1 innings with no walk and three earned runs. In all but one start this year, he’s allowed two earned runs or less and has 29 strikeouts and just three walks in 19.1 innings.

Jose Pirela (ACL, CF): 2-4, 3B, RBI - Pirela got off to a slow start stats wise in the ACL but has two homers in recent games and a triple here with a good game.

Jose Cedeno (ACL, C): 2-3, 3B - The 19 year old 5’7 backstop is in his second year in the ACL.

Emilio Taveras (DSL Goryl, 1B): 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB - Taveras began a crucial third season (fourth year - didn't play in 2022) in the DSL with a three-hit performance.

Romer Taveras (DSL Goryl, CF): 2-3, 1 R, 2B, 1 BB, 1 SB, 1 CS - The other Taveras in the Guardians Goryl lineup on Thursday had a multi-hit pro debut that included a double in a pivotal plate appearance during the team's eighth-inning comeback.

Alejandro Blasco (DSL Goryl, PH-backup 2B): 2-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS - Blasco came into the contest as a pinch hitter for starting 2B Johan Rodriguez (reason for Rodriguez's exit is not known as of now) and was perfect at the plate, including driving in the tying run in the eighth.

Renil Ramos (DSL Goryl, SP): ND, 4 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K - Ramos opened his sophomore campaign in the DSL in dominant fashion in a display of control far superior to that which led to his 24:29 K:BB ratio as a rookie.

Notable Performances:

Juan Brito (Columbus, 3B): 2-5, 2 BB, 2B - Brito didn’t homer but he did double and work two walk as he has been hot since the month of May now.

Jhonkensy Noel (Columbus, 1B): 4-6, 2B, 2 RBI - Shockingly Noel wasn’t part of the homer party, but still managed a double and collected a swinging bunt single as one of his hits. It’s been a pretty hot stretch for Noel. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get a chance at some point just because he’s out of options next year and Cleveland might want to get a look at him before then.

Tanner Burns (Columbus, RP): 2IP, 3K - Solid effort in relief with big numbers coming on the offensive side.

Nick Mikolajchak (Columbus, RP): IP, H, BB, K - Allowed some traffic but remains solid working back from TJ.

Alexfri Planez (Akron, RF): 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K - For all of the offensive fireworks in Thursday’s game, the RubberDucks final comeback was punctuated by a pair of softly hit singles to center.  The first came off the bat of Planez, driving in CF Kahlil Watsin to tie the game at six runs apiece,

Aaron Bracho (Akron, DH): 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB - Bracho came up next and delivered a near-carbon copy to drive in Kayfus for the go-ahead run.

Lenny Torres Jr. (Akron, RP): S (5), 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 2  K - Torres, who allowed a rare earned run on Thursday afternoon, remains perfect in five Double-A save opportunities.

RP Magnus Ellerts (Lake County, G1): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 3 Ks - Although it wasn’t a save situation, Ellerts treated the game like he was preserving a one-run advantage. He picked up right where his teammates left off and fanned all three of the batters he faced.

2B Angel Genao (Lake County, G1): 2-for-3, R, 2B, BB - Genao led off the game with a double, his first hit in a Lake County uniform. He went on to reach base three times thanks to a single and walk later in the game.

Christian Knapzcyk (Lynchburg, SS): 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI - I expected Knapczyk to hit for a higher average in his first year at Single-A being a high level college player in a good conference. He’s had some good games and his numbers are fine, though.

Ralphy Velazquez (Lynchburg, 1B): 0-2, 3BB - You think no hits would be a big deal, but if Velazquez starts to be even more selective at the plate, especially in Single-A, that’s a good sign. Single-A pitching for the most part is terrible. You have a few good arms here and there, so working walks doesn’t mean he’s laying off great pitches. But it means he’s at least not expanding his zone. And that’s something he should be getting better at from where he was to start the year.

RP Deretd Parra (Lynchburg, G1): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, K - In his Single-A debut, Parra held the opponents scoreless and had to work around an error in the fifth. A pair of steals put the runner on third, but the reliever was up to the task and left the runner stranded.

3B Jose Pastrano (Lynchburg, G1): 1-for-3, R, 2B, RBI, DP - Pastrano provided a clutch double to put the Hillcats in front 3-2 in the final inning.

Luis Merejo (ACL, 1B): 1-4, 2B - Not often you see 1B leadoff but Merejo had a double as he’s started slow in the ACL after some impressive data in the DSL last year.

Dariel Arias (DSL Mendoza, 2B): 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B - Arias, who was part of this past January 25's international signing class, opened his official professional career with a multi-hit effort and his first pro run.

Carlos Garces (DSL Mendoza, 3B): 2-4, 1 K - No run, but another multi-hit pro debut.

Randy Martinez (DSL Mendoza, SS): 1-4, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K - Martinez drove in the first Guardians Mendoza run on an eighth-inning line drive triple to right that scored Arias.

Carlos Caripa (DSL Mendoza, RF): 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K - Caripa provided the second, and final, tally when he drove in Martinez later in the frame on another liner - this one a double to center.

Luis De La Cruz (DSL Goryl, RF): 1-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K - Not only did De La Cruz open his professional home run account with a leadoff go-ahead solo shot to left, but he also later drove in the eventual winning tally. He didn't get an RBI for that one, however, as he did so by grounding into a double play.

Dauri Fernandez (DSL Goryl, SS): 1-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 E - Fernandez scored twice in his professional debut.