Justin Lada 2023 Cleveland Guardians Prospect Rankings

Short blurbs on 82 Cleveland Guardians prospects for 2023

Editors note: This is my personal 2023 Cleveland Guardians prospect ranking and grades. Willie Hood has posted his own personal rankings, and we have another contributor joining us soon as well. Next Year in Cleveland will have a combined ranking from three different writers for an official site list.

The full 2023 Next Year in Cleveland Guardians prospect rankings will include full scouting reports. Look for that coming soon.

First, here are Guardians players graduated who exceeded rookie status from 2022 or are no longer in the organization:

OF Will Benson (exceeded rookie status)
LHP Konnor Pilkington (exceeded rookie status)
OF Alex Call (traded)
INF Tyler Freeman (exceeded rookie status)
OF Oscar Gonzalez (exceeded rookie status)
3B Nolan Jones (traded)
OF Steven Kwan (exceeded rookie status)
LHP Kirk McCarty (released)
OF Richie Palacios (exceeded rookie status)
RHP Carlos Vargas (traded)

Players are ranked in overall (OVR) role value on 20-80 scouting scale:

80=elite level, Hall of Fame talent
70=perrenial All-Star
60=occasional All-Star, star level (elite reliever)
55=above average starter, potential All-Star (high leverage reliever)
50=league average player (moderate leverage reliever)
45=fringe-average starter/platoon player/bench player (set up type arm)
40=below average starter/bench/backup (middle relief)
35=minor league callup/injury replacement (bullpen depth)
20=org depth

Justin Lada’s 2023 Pre-season Cleveland Guardians Prospect Rankings

1) SP Tanner Bibee; OVR: 55; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2023
2) SP Daniel Espino; OVR: 55; Risk: High; ETA 2023

Comments: Daniel Espino may possess the most talent of any player in this organization. A knee, then a shoulder injury limiting him to 18.1 innings last year and the injury risk are my only pause putting him in the top spot. I went with Bibee right now for his polish, some more room for possible growth and being a little safer to project due to health. But you can make a case for any of the big three arms.

3) SP Gavin Williams; OVR: 50; Risk: Moderate: ETA: 2024
4) C Bo Naylor; OVR: 50; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2022
5) INF Angel Martinez; OVR: 50; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
6) P Cody Morris; OVR: 50; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2022
7) SS Brayan Rocchio; OVR: 50; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2024
8) SP Logan Allen; OVR: 50; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2023
9) SP Justin Campbell; OVR: 50; Risk: Moderate; ETA 2025

Comments: Williams has the talent to be up in the top tier with Espino and Bibee. His fastball is downright dominant and he has two good breaking pitches. He was healthy all of 2022 but there are past health issues and some control blips and non-competitive pitches to clean up. 

Naylor doesn’t have any major standout tool (unless you count speed for a catcher) but everything is solid across the board. There are some defensive issues to shore up but he should be able to throw, lead a staff, hit for power and run. That’s a nice profile for a catcher. 

Martinez doesn’t light up with his exit velocity, but he’s got contact ability, true discipline, and speed, and he should be able to handle short even if he’s not a top-tier defender like other shortstops on the list. That’s enough to be a good average starter at short. 

On health alone, perhaps Morris’ risk should be high. No idea what the role ends up being, but it should fall between an effective mid-rotation starter if he ever stays healthy, or a high-impact reliever. 

Rocchio’s results were down, but he still put together a solid season working through some things. I prefer Martinez’s approach at the plate, which is why I moved Martinez up ahead. 

Allen dominated Double-A again and hit a rough patch in Triple-A. He still missed bats and I’m chalking some of it up to getting used to the different ball in Triple-A. Still believe in the mid-back of rotation rock solid arm. 

I’m not sure if Campbell is a “breakout” type candidate given that he was a Comp A pick, but I think he’s the next Cleveland pitching prospect to earn some bigger attention. 

10) OF Will Brennan; OVR: 45; Risk: Low; EA: 2022
11) OF George Valera; OVR: 45; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2023
12) OF Chase DeLauter; OVR: 45; Risk: High; ETA: 2026
13) SS Gabriel Arias; OVR: 45; Risk: Moderate; ETA 2022
14) P Joey Cantillo; OVR: 45; Risk: Moderate; ETA 2023
15) P Hunter Gaddis; OVR: 45; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2022
16) P Xzavion Curry; OVR: 45; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2022
17) INF Juan Brito; OVR: 45; Risk: High; ETA: 2025
18) RP Tim Herrin; OVR: 45; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2023

Comments: I’ve continued to be higher on Brennan than anyone not in his family. I’m between thinking he’s a 50, being an everyday regular, but also this being a little aggressive. A slight platoon issue and some aggressiveness in his profile left me keeping him at 45. He’s got a safer floor than Valera but less upside. A lot of unknown with DeLauter but the swing and results in the cape are enticing.

Arias’s glove could make him a fringe-average starter alone with his power. He could hit the low end offensively and still have value but leaving some offensive upside untapped.

Cantillo would be higher too with health the last two years. The upside of a healthy Cantillo is a top-10 arm.

Gaddis and Curry are interchangeable. Both profile as sixth starters or good middle relievers.

Brito has a feel for contact and a swing that should allow him to get to pop. It is a bat first profile, however.

A fastball that sits mid-90s and touches 99 with a wipeout slider from a noisy but deceptive reliever gives Herrin high leverage relief upside.

19) OF Petey Halpin; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA 2025
20) OF Jaison Chourio; OVR: 40; Risk: Extreme; ETA: 2027
21) 2B Nate Furman’ OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
22) 1B Jhonkensy Noel; OVR: 40; Risk: Extreme; ETA: 2024
23) INF Angel Genao; OVR: 40; Risk: Extreme; ETA 2027
24) P Jack Leftwich; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2024
25) P Jacob Zibin; OVR: 40 Risk: Extreme; ETA: 2027
26) INF Welbyn Francisca; OVR: 40; Risk: Extreme; ETA: 2028
27) C Bryan Lavastida; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA 2022
28) INF Jose Tena OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA 2025
29) 1B/OF Micah Pries; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate ; ETA: 2024
30) P Doug Nikhazy; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2024
31) P Ryan Webb; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA:2025
32) P Parker Messick; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA:2025
33) OF Joe Lampe; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA:2025
34) 3B Gabriel Rodriguez; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA:2025
35) OF Yerlin Luis; OVR: 40; Risk: Extreme; ETA: 2028
36) P Peyton Battenfield; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA:2023
37) P Trenton Denholm; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA:2025
38) RP Davis Sharpe; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA:2025
39) 2B/OF Jake Fox; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2025
40) RP Nick Mikolajchak; OVR: 40 Risk: Moderate; ETA:2023
41) RP Cade Smith; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2024
42) INF Dayan Frias; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2026
43) OF Wuilfredo Antunez; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2026
44) P Tanner Burns; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2024
45) P Will Dion; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
46) P Jackson Humphries; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2026
47) P Ethan Hankins; OVR: 40; Risk: High; ETA: 2025
48) P Tommy Mace; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
49) P Reid Johnston; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
50) INF Yordys Valdez; OVR: 40; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025

Comments: I was tempted to go high with Halpin and Chourio, but want to see more thump from Halpin’s bat as much as I like everything else in his game. Chourio is an unknown but I wouldn’t be surprised to have Halpin and Chourio shoot up these rankings some later in the year.

I like the upside in Furman’s swing, contact, speed and style of play. Feels like a Steven Kwan starter kit on the infield….As a right/right first baseman, Noel needs to get to all of his top of the scale power. Still too much concern about his chase and miss, and pitch recognition…Genao has some growing to do, but there’s a lot of upside in there on both sides of the ball….I initially thought Leftwich may be a fast moving reliever. He could be, but his control and development should keep him as a starter for now, especially if his changeup improves more. There’s high risk, high potential in Zibin’s profile. The frame may be worrisome but the stuff is there and Cleveland is clearly very high on him…Initially, I wasn’t going to put Francisca (or Yerlin Luis) in these rankings, instead just note what range I might have them in. But these are the only two players I decided to factor in other reports on since I haven’t really seen or know much about either than limited video….This might be too low on Lavastida, who may deserve a bit of a mulligan from last year. I still like the skills as a backup catcher….Tena may be the infield version of Oscar Gonzalez. Good contact, power, but too aggressive. Although the defense on the infield can carry him…I’m higher on Pries than most. There’s a little too much chase and miss in his profile, but the power and speed combo are there, and he can play the outfield if needed….There’s a good chance Nikhazy’s control issues are too much to overcome and he ends up in the pen. I’m willing to give him time to work on it, but the fastball/curveball give him setup relief upside.

Webb’s velocity was a little up and down in his TJ return but he had flashes in his starts showed the upside that Cleveland saw taking him despite his injury….Messick might have the kind of profile that would take off with increased fastball velocity with some strength training and reconditioning….I like the contact and speed of Lampe’s profile and the defense. The question is if his late college power surge is enough to give him some juice in the pros…The defense, improved contact, youth and some interesting batted ball data has Rodriguez, who was a highly paid international prospect, somehow underrated and overlooked…Luis, see the comment on Francisca….Battenfield probably also should get a mulligan, but the velocity and ability to miss bats last year dropped. Not sure if it was the ball, but I still like the stuff and ability to be a depth starter or a reliever….As I’ve said before, I thought Denholm would have the breakout last year that Bibee did, and I still think more is coming from him. He’s a pick to move up…Sharpe was raw and underdeveloped in college but showed good stuff last year. He could have a similar rise like Nick Sandlin is he’s healthy….There are a lot of things to like about Fox offensively across the board. His approach is just very passive right now…Like Battenfield, I’m inclined to give Mikolajchak a mulligan and any issues with the ball at Triple-A. But his velocity and stuff declined too and he needs a rebound.

Smith had no problem missing bats and has setup upside but control is a big barrier right now…Frias is a popular helium candidate right now. There’s a lot of interesting tools but there’s more swing and miss in the approach than you’d like to see right now….Interesting batted ball data and athleticism made Antunez an interesting pop up candidate in 2022…At this point, Burns might be a reliever due to his injury issues. He needs to regain velocity, fastball confidence and just stay healthy if he wants to avoid a pen role future…Dion’s 2022 numbers are eye popping and there’s good secondaries and control. Just hard to predict how much upside is there without topping 90 too often…Cleveland doesn’t draft pitchers with less than stellar control often, but Humphries has high upside stuff from the left side…It’s been three years since we’ve seen Hankins pitch. Even having him in the rankings is just a bet that he’s retained his big time stuff with the missed time and new, improved physique….Mace’s stuff looked better in college than it did in 2022, so this is also a gamble he and the Guardians will help him improve. He showed flashes at times of back of the rotation potential….Johnston looks like a reliever but he missed enough bats as a starter and showed at least two above average pitches….It’s a question if Valdes will ever hit, but he squared up some balls late last year when I saw him and the glove is high end.

51) C/INF David Fry; OVR: 35; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2023
52) P Dylan DeLucia; OVR: 35; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
53) INF Milan Tolentino; OVR: 35; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
54) RP Hunter Stanley; OVR: 35; RIsk: High; ETA: 2024
55) P Ross Carver; OVR: 35; Risk: Moderate: ETA 2025
56) 2B Juan Benjamin; OVR: 35; Risk: High; ETA: 2027
57) RP Tyler Thornton; OVR: 35; Risk: High; ETA: 2025
58) RP Andrew Misiaszek 35 Moderate 2024
59) OF Alexfri Planez; OVR: 35; Risk: High: ETA: 2025
60) OF Jorge Burgos; OVR: 35; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
61) P Aaron Davenport; OVR: 35; Risk: Moderate; ETA: 2025
62) OF Johnathan Rodriguez; OVR: 35; Risk: High; ETA: 2025

Comments: If Fry was catching more often or if Cleveland trusted him to catch more, he would be ranked higher. But there’s still the intrigue of having some pop in his bat, especially against lefties and the option to catch and play the corners. It’s a valuable profile, IF, they think he catches…DeLucia has some interesting pitch data in his profile but his future role seems unclear…Tolentino played well in Low-A but ran into swing and miss issues in High-A. The defense at shortstop should be good enough for now…Stanley missed most of 2022 but pitched in the AFL, and threw quite well, which is enough to keep an eye on…Carver was acquired for Carlos Vargas on 40 man decision day and has a possible starters pitch mix…Benjamin has good batted ball data and had an interesting cameo at Low-A, making good contact for his size

Thornton can run it up to the mid-90s and also has great pitch metrics and data with a lot of deception as well…Misiaszek is a reliever and would be a LOOGY already if that still existed, but also has big deception…Despite his tools, Planez’s approach holds a lot of it back, but he still has star potential if his swing decisions improve. Double-A pitching would be a major test…Burgos doesn’t stand out in any one area, but is young, has solid batted ball data and decent results so far…Davenport has a plus curveball and some deception, so it’s a good start…Rodriguez hit a ton of homers last year but the approach is very aggressive and outside the arm, defense is suspect. This is really just taking a chance he can maintain the power output against upper level pitching.

Others of note: 

63) P Austin Peterson
64) P Jake Miller
65) RP Trey Benton
66) P Rodney Boone
67) SP Shane McCarthy

Comments: Peterson was a top strikeout leader in DI last year, topping out at low-90s with a good slider. How will it translate in the majors…Miller had big stuff and Cleveland paid a lot of money to sign him late in the draft, but he had TJ…Benton has good pitch data and is already Rule 5 eligible…Boone’s numbers were impressive but he tops out in the high 80s, which is hard to project long term…McCarthy was starting to flash back end starter potential before having TJ in 2021 

68) OF Guy Lipscomb
69) OF Connor Kokx
70) 1B/LF Joe Naranjo
71) 1B Will Bartlett
72) OF Jose Gomez

Lipscomb has contact and speed and likely profiles as a fourth or fifth outfielder…Cokx is a good defender who is underrated athletically and has some underlying intrigue offensively….Naranjo is a good defender at first who grew into some pop in 2022 but swung and missed more…Bartlett hasn’t put into results but has interested batted ball data and good raw power….Gomez was a Dominican complex league outfielder who swung and missed a lot but showed rare power for someone his age.

73) RP Alaska Abney
74) RP Mason Hickman
75) C Victor Izturis
76) CManuel Mejias
77) C Jose Cedeno

The numbers don’t look overwhelming, but Abney has a unique delivery and deception…Hickman missed a lot of bats as a reliever but still only touches 92. He could wind up a little like Nic Enright…Izturis has good bloodlines, contact ability and plays behind the plate, so there’s intrigue….Mejias is another squat catcher with good contact ability…Cedeno is similarly small stature, high contact left handed hitting backstop

78) OF Isaiah Greene
79) INF Aaron Bracho
80) INF Carson Tucker
81) INF Junior Sanquintin
82) P Josh Wolf

Greene has speed and patience, but underwhelming batted ball data and pitch recognition…Tucker hasn’t stayed healthy and hasn’t put up any success on the field when he was healthy…Sanquintin was a higher profile international signing who is a first base only, high swing and miss bat with big raw power…Wolf missed a lot of time in 2022, and looks more like a two pitch reliever.