Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 11/14/24
Arizona Fall League - Surprise Saguaros 10, Salt River Rafters 2
Colombian League - Caimanes de Barranquilla 8, Vaqueros de Montería 4
P12 - Australia 5, Dominican Republic 0
GUARDIANS PROSPECTS
Dylan DeLucia (SP, Surprise): 4IP, H, BB, 4K - Easily the best performance on paper by DeLucia in the AFL, something I’ve been waiting for from him based on how he ended the season. But if you’ve been following, you know that the AFL isn’t easy. It’s an environment geared towards hitters plus pitchers are usually worn down this time of year. Now, DeLucia we know only pitched 1/2 a season due to his TJ recovery from 2022. But that doesn’t mean the rehab + his pitching time in LYN/LC didn’t take a toll. He was 90-93 in this one, whereas in the playoffs this past September he was hitting 97 at times. 90-93 is about more where I expect him to sit, but you’d like to see more 92-94 t95 at times, and maybe that’s where he’ll get if we know 97 is in there. He got 6 whiffs on the slider though and this is at least interesting to follow and encouraging as the AFL season winds down.
Chase DeLauter (DH, Surprise): 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB, PO - DeLauter posted a pair of doubles (101 and 99 off the bat) and a single (100 off the bat). His exit velos were consistent again and in fact, his two outs were 99 and 101 off the bat as well. He did get picked off in this one. Scott Lucas on BlueSky pulled the exit velo numbers from the AFL and Chase DeLauter came in with 108 90th percentile exit velocity in this campaign (90th percentile is used by a lot of teams now to get a stable baseline of where the consistent upper threshold of a players exit velocity potential). But as I continue to point out, we know what DeLauter can do when he’s healthy. It’s about health and if his swing will work against the best of the best on the mound and we won’t get that from the AFL. This is just about reps.
Kody Huff (C, Surprise): 0-4 - Tough day at the plate for Huff, who has had a solid AFL campaign.
Milan Tolentino (SS-3B, Surprise): 2-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB - A strong showing by Tolentino, who has had not had the results in the AFL. His hits were 103 and 97 off the bat, so strong signs. The walk is good. I still view Tolentino as a glove first guy at this time and I feel like the pop is there, but the swing and miss still concerns me long term and I just don’t see him being in consideration for the 40 man next week.
Alaska Abney (RP, Surprise): IP, 4H, 2ER, K - Abney has been pretty good in the AFL but overall I just do not believe in the stuff other than being an Adam Cimber type and I haven’t seen anything to consider a 40 man spot for him next week.
Travis Bazzana (2B, Australia): 0-4 - Nothing going on at the plate for Bazzana in this one. Three fly outs and a groundout. He did help turn a double play though.