Cleveland Guardians Spring Training Prospect Report 2/28/25

Nikhazy posts solid outing

SCOREBOARD

Cleveland Guardians 3, Colorado Rockies 1 (Statcast)

STARTER

Johnathan Rodriguez (LF): 2-2, 1 R, 1 2B - Two Guardians had multi-hit Fridays in Goodyear. Both have intact rookie status (and are thus profiled here). Unsurprisingly, J-Rod’s contact was HARD, with both of his coming off the bat in excess of 97 MPH. His third-inning double, from which he ultimately opened the day’s scoring on a Steven Kwan sa fly, was Cleveland’s third hardest-hit ball of the day at 106.7 MPH/ For those wondering, Jhonkensy Noel’s fourth-inning lineout topped both the Guardian and MLB leaderboards for the day at 115.5 MPH! (Bonus Statcast fun fact: Noel also had the softest base hit of the game, with his second-inning single clocking in at an even 74 MPH.)

RESERVES

Yordys Valdes (PH-DH): 0-0, 1 BB - Valdes walked as a pinch hitter for starting DH Steven Kwan in the eighth in the only action of his first game of the Spring in which he didn’t play shortstop.

Micah Pries (1B): 0-0, 1 R, 1 BB - Pries, who returned to his usual spot at first base after playing left field on Thursday, scored the go-ahead and eventual winning run after walking in the eighth in his only plate appearance of the day.

Dayan Frias (3B): 0-0, 1 R, 1 HBP - Frias followed with a walk and later crossed the plate for an insurance tally.

Petey Halpin (CF): 0-1 - Center field at the Corner of Neil and Nationwide (aka Columbus) starting to look like Halpin’s job to lose as he has been the backup CF in four of the seven preseason contests so far and has started there in one of the other three.

Kody Huff (C ): 0-1, 1 K - Speaking of lineup projections, State and Main will likely be the corner you want to head to for catching prospects as the likely Akron-bound duo of Huff and Cooper Ingle have been getting the lion’s share of backup backstop reps this Spring. (By the way, I promise to update the Depth Chart tab on the Rosters page soon. I’m just waiting for a full Minor League Camp roster so I can better project the ACL and DSL rosters.)

Milan Tolentino (SS): 2-2, 2 RBI - Tolentino, who made his 2025 Spring debut at shortstop yesterday, opened his preseason RBI account with a 108.5 MPH two-run single in the eighth. He is off to a hot start in the Valley of the Sun, slashing .600/.714/1.000 in seven plate appearances. While this is a small sample size ad absurdum, it does raise questions of how much Milan benefitted from the rest he got by not playing in the Mexican Pacific League this past offseason. Something that, while I can’t prove it, the Guardians seem to have been largely discouraging based on the quiet winter just completed for the Cleveland org.

Justin Boyd (RF): 1-2, 1 2B - Boyd’s 103.7 MPH line-drive double to left in the seventh was his first major league Spring hit. (This is his first year hitting in big league camp games. He made two appearances last Spring for the Big Club but only played defensively.)

Will Wilson (2B): 0-1, 1 CS - For anybody wondering how Wilson got caught stealing when he went 0-for-1, he reached on a fielder's choice in the seventh. His baserunning mistake cost the Guardians a run, as you will see in the next profile.

Kahlil Watson (LF): 0-1 - Watson’s inning-ending fly out would’ve been a sac fly, driving in Tolentino for the go-ahead run, had Wilson not been thrown out on the basepaths. (I wasn’t there and the game wasn’t televised, so I’m refraining from judgement on whether or not he was thrown out like a nincompoop, thus rendering it a TOOTBLAN)

RELIEVERS

Doug Nikhazy: W (1-0), 2 IP, 1 BB, 2 K - While his walk of former Cleveland prospect Owen Miller kept him from replicating his pair of perfect frames from last Sunday, Nikhazy continued the dominant note on which he has started his major league Spring career. Of note is the fact that he pitched later in the game 7th-8th instead of the 5th-6th he hurled on Sunday) and thus faced less starters. Although, one of the starters he faced in his Spring debut was Tim Anderson, so the comparison may not be that unfair.

Mason Hickman: S (1), 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K - While the tying run did get to the plate, Hickman pitched a solid ninth to earn his first major league Spring save and his first save at any level since picking up ten for the 2022 Captains.

DID NOT PLAY

RHP Allan Hernandez

RHP Nick Mikolajchak

RHP Zane Morehouse

LHP Steven Perez

RHP Carter Spivey

C Kevin Rivas

OF Jaison Chourio