Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 6/28/24
Scoreboard:
Triple-A (GM1) - Columbus Clippers 5, Omaha Storm Chasers 4 (F/8)
Triple-A (GM2) - Columbus Clippers 5, Omaha Storm Chasers 0 (F/7)
Double-A - Akron RubberDucks 4, Altoona Curve 2
High-A - Lake County Captains 2, Great Lakes Loons 1
Single-A - Carolina Mudcats 5, Lynchburg Hillcats 2
ACL - Guardians 7, Cubs 6
DSL (GM1) - DSL White Sox 8, CLE Mendoza 5 (F/7)
DSL (GM2) - CLE Mendoza vs White Sox (Canceled - rain)
DSL - CLE Goryl 7, Royals Fortuna 4
Rehab:
Andrew Misiaszek (Rehab SP, ACL): 1 IP, 1 H, 3 K - Misiaszek’s 2024 debut looked like, well, a Triple-A hurler facing a bunch of complex leaguers.
Highlights:
Doug Nikhazy (SP, Columbus): 7IP, 2H, 3BB, 5K - Nikhazy was efficient in his first Triple-A start, averaging 90-91 with his fastball and relying on a slider-cutter mix as well. He didn’t miss a ton of bats, and he ended up walking some, but overall as good of a debut as you could ask for.
Kyle Manzardo (DH, Columbus): 2-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI - Manzardo cracked two big homers, the first 111 off the bat to right and the second off an 0-2 fastball 104 opposite field. He still is struggling with changeups but he can pummel a fastball like anyone else.
Juan Brito (2B-1B, Columbus): 3-8, HR - Brito hit homers in game one and two of the double-header and is up to 12 this year.
George Valera (LF, Columbus): 3-3, HR, 2 RBI - Valera rocketed a 440 homer in game one of the double-header and already has seven after missing the first month of the season, so not bad. Would think he’s also going to get a shot at some point this year as well as long as he’s healthy.
Austin Peterson (SP, Akron): W (1-0), 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R (both earned), 10 K, 1 HR allowed - Peterson needed only 82 pitches to pitch six dominant innings in his Double-A debut. This quality start - a difficult feat in and of itself in the minor leagues thanks to the six-inning requirement - was nearly a scoreless one as a two-run blast in the fifth was all that kept Austin from hurling six shut frames. He also continued his strikeout machine ways from A-Ball going in the Eastern League by punching out ten to bring his career total one shy of the 200 mark (in 208 innings). His next start will be interesting to see if he can keep this up and become the mound version of C.J. Kayfus.
Alonzo Richardson (SP, Lynchburg): ND, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R (both unearned), 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E - Richardson’s stellar start was the only true bright spot for the visiting Hillcats on Friday. For those wondering, Richardson’s erroneous pickoff throw did play a role in the second run scoring, but the sixth frame would've been already over by that point if not for a previous erroneous throw by SS Rafael Ramirez Jr.
Santiago Peraza (SP, DSL Goryl): W (1-0), 5.0 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BBs, 7 Ks - In his second season with the organization, Peraza has been brilliant this year and lowered his ERA to 0.47 in 19.0 innings pitched this season after allowing just one hit over five innings on Friday. The 19-year-old faced just one batter with a runner in scoring position and got his day started by striking out the side in the first. His seven punchouts are a career high.
Notable Performances:
Aaron Bracho (DH, Akron): 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI - Bracho went straight from the 7-day Injured List to the basepaths, doubling in his first plate appearance back from a brief IL and getting the scoring started with an RBI single in his second.
Joe Lampe (LF, Akron): 2-4, 1 RBI - Lampe drove in the RubberDucks’ second tally on the team’s other RBI hit (the third and fourth runs scored on an error and bases-loaded walk, respectively), bringing his season RBI total to 22.
C.J. Kayfus (1B, Akron): 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K - Speaking of 22 RBI, Kayfus has already reached that total in his short time in Double-A , doing so on the aforementioned walk.
Milan Tolentino (SS, Akron): 2-4, 2 R, 1 2B - Tolentino converted his fourth multi-hit game in his last six into half of the RubberDuck runs on Friday night.
Carter Spivey (SP, Lake County): 6IP, 5H ER, 2BB, 3K - Spivey was solid, throwing plenty of strikes and not seeing his control drop off until the sixth inning really. He doesn’t miss a lot of bats, but he’s a solid 89-92 and can hit 93, using a cutter and sweeper effectively which might play up better in the bullpen eventually.
Magnus Ellerts (RP, Lake County): 2IP, 3BB, 4K - Ellerts had some control problems but he was missing bats when he was on with a 92-95 fastball and a nasty mid-80s slider.
Angel Genao (3B, Lake County): 1-3, BB - Genao just missed an opposite field homer to lead off the game at the wall then rapped a hard single, and worked a walk. He struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch later in the game that he should have swung at, but he was a bit passive on, but it was still a good at bat.
Tommy Hawke (DH, Lynchburg): 1-5, 1 2B - Hawke extended the longest current on-base streak in the org to 17 games with a seventh-inning double on a largely forgettable nite for the Hillcats lineup.
Carlos Gutierrez (LF, ACL): 2-5, 2 RBI, 1 K - Surprisingly, given the high-scoring nature of last night’s A-Guards victory, Gutierrez had the complex squad’s lone multi-hit and lone multi-run performance of the evening.
Welbyn Francisca (SS, ACL): 1-2, 3 BB,1 K, 1 CS - While he was part of the one-hit brigade last night, Francisca walked thrice to make it five of his last six games with multiple trips to the basepaths (with three of hose seeing him reach thrice or more). In those six games, he is slashing .400/.516/.680.
Juneiker Caceres (RF, DSL Mendoza): 2-for-4, R, RBI - One of the lone bright spots for the Mendoza team was Caceres who delivered an RBI single to spark the team’s five-run bottom of the fourth in a multi-hit day. It is his sixth multi-hit game out of 14 on the year and he is batting .438 in his last nine.
Romer Taveras (RF, DSL Goryl): 1-for-1, R, RBI, 4 BBs, 3 SBs - The leadoff man for the Goryl team was the definition of a thorn in the side of his opponents after reaching base in all five plate appearances despite just one hit. Once he was on first, it was nearly a guarantee he was moving to second with a stolen base.
Johan Rodriguez (SS, DSL Goryl): 1-for-3, R, 2B, 2 RBIs, BB, SF, E6T - A sacrifice fly in the second and a run-scoring double in the fourth helped to give the Goryl team an early advantage. The 16-year-old has driven in 16 runs despite just 10 hits on the season.