Couldn't fathom why the G's signed everyone else's reject Jason Bilous this spring and put him on the 40 man roster. That didn't last long and no other team was wily enough to snag him. So he's back with us in Columbus pitching at his normal level of success. Got the loss yesterday with this fine line:
2/3 3 3 3 1 2 one homer ERA now 10.29

But the name to remember with much more dismay is Tobias Myers for whom we traded young IF Junior Caminero. The Rays know their business. Caminero is soaring through the top 100 prospect list with a terrific first couple months as a power hitting right handed hitter. Add him to the list with Anthony Santander [swtich hitter] donated in Rule 5 draft. Yandy Diaz.

Wednesday lines:

CLE AAA #3 Bo Naylor, C 4 1 1 0 0.262 2B (8),
CLE AAA #4 George Valera, OF 3 0 0 0 0.188 BB (5), SB (1),
CLE MAJ #5 Brayan Rocchio, SS 4 0 0 0 0.331 E (8),
CLE AA #8 Angel Martinez, SS 4 0 0 0 0.185 having a terrible time of it in the Eastern League
CLE MAJ #10 Will Brennan, OF 4 0 1 0 0.209
CLE MAJ #11 Tyler Freeman, 2B 4 0 1 0 0.330
CLE AA #14 Jose Tena, SS 5 0 2 1 0.189 E (4), heading the right direction
CLE HiA ``````#15 Jake Fox, 2B ``````````````4 0 1 1 0.183
CLE HiA ``````#15 Jake Fox, 2B ``````````````4 0 0 0 0.183
CLE HiA `````#16 Juan Brito, 2B ``````4 1 1 0 0.250 2B (7),
CLE AAA #20 Jhonkensy Noel, OF 4 0 2 0 0.203 2B (8),
CLE AAA #24 Richard Palacios, OF 2 0 0 0 0.248 2 BB (29),
CLE AA ```````#25 Petey Halpin, OF 5 0 2 0 0.253
CLE AA #30 Bryan Lavastida, C 5 0 1 0 0.222 he's been hitting OK since he returned to the lineup; could bring him up as Naylor's backup
and dump the current duo
CLE MAJ #22 Xzavion Curry, RHP 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 2.59 they've found a perfect role for the X man
CLE AAA #26 Hunter Gaddis, RHP 5.0 5 1 1 2 6 6.00 W (1-3) better than previous outings

Thursday Games

CLE AAA #3 Bo Naylor, C 3 0 1 0 0.264 E (4), threw out 1 of 3 base stealers
CLE MAJ #5 Brayan Rocchio, SS 4 0 1 1 0.329 E (9),
CLE AA #8 Angel Martinez, SS 5 1 2 4 0.194 2 2B (5), BB (18), Heating Up
CLE MAJ #10 Will Brennan, OF 4 1 1 0 0.211
CLE MAJ #12 Gabriel Arias, SS 4 2 2 1 0.190 2B (3), HR (2), Heating Up
CLE AA #14 Jose Tena, SS 5 0 2 2 0.203 CS (4), Heating up
CLE HiA #16 Juan Brito, 2B 4 0 0 0 0.241
CLE AAA #20 Jhonky Noel, OF 2 1 0 0 0.200
CLE AA #21 Gab Rodrigz, 3B 2 3 2 0 0.218 3 BB (18), Heating Up
CLE AAA #24 RichPalacios, OF 4 0 0 0 0.242
CLE AA #25 Petey Halpin, OF 5 1 1 1 0.250
CLE AA #30 Br Lavastida, C 3 0 1 0 0.226 BB (11),

CLE MAJ #6 Logan Allen, LHP 5.2 7 1 1 1 5 2.41
CLE AA #27 Doug Nikhazy, LHP 5.0 3 1 0 4 9 2.70 W (1-0)
He still walks too many but otherwise Nikhazy is looking better. But don't see who walks more than 1 every 2 innings in the minors having a path to the majors.

The Running Hillcats added a couple extra base hit to their repertoire yesterday one double and one triple to accompany five singles 9 walks and 7 steals. to yield 5 runs; for them a good day of clutch hitting: 3 of 14.

Greg Lipscomb takes back the team lead with his 25th [and 24th] steal. Nate Furman with only one, his 24th. Jose Devers his 17th
There's some other leading the league with 28; the Hillcat 3 follow next in the rankings

Furman still leads with 33 walks, 2nd place has 30 [Furman has more than 2x walks as strikeouts]
And his 41 run scored are 15 ahead of second place

Friday night:

Columbus
Naylor nothing
Oscar G a single
Noel 4 strikeouts

Akron:
Aaron Bracho's Return from the Dead season continues apace: 2 singles, not hitting 244 He has 7 homeruns and an OPS of 894. NB: he did strikeout 3 times yesterday
Angel Martinez perhaps awakening, 2 hits 195
Jose Tena double 193
Gabriel Rodriguez 3rd home run 3 rbi 211

Lake County:
Another nice outing for Ethan Hankins 3 1 0 0 1 3
Will Dion followed 5 6 2 2 1 7
and Lenny Torres, like Hankins a top round draft pick returning slowly from arm surgeries: 1 scoreless inning for the save
along with all the IF noted above at Akron who started ice cold and are starting to hit, Jake Fox the youngest Captain had 3 hits is up to 213 and his 2nd steal

Lynchburg:
An amazing show of power for the Hillcats:
HR by J. Brown
3 doubles
only 3 singles only 2 walks and only 1 steal [Lipscomb no. 26]
Tulloch and Jacobs each with a good outing on the mound, a pair of mid round 2022 draft picks

Great stuff civ !!

Thank you! I'm interested in Hankins... excellent prospect looking good in his return.

I will be away for a week and you'll be pretty much on your own for the minors from Tuesday to June 1. Take a look at milb.com for game results. Which you know already. That one's free. the BA stuff requires subscription.

Thanks for the heads up civ and have fun!

Guardians Top Prospect Williams Strikes Out 10 In Latest Dominate Outing
Cleveland Guardians 23-year-old prospect Gavin Williams hit 101.1 mph on the radar gun today for Columbus Todd Paquette
May 10, 2023 8:08 PM EDT


Cleveland Guardians 23-year-old RHP prospect Gavin Williams has now made six starts on the 2023 season making three each with Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus.

Williams over those six starts has accumulated 41 strikeouts over 30.1 innings pitched while posting a miniscule 0.89 ERA allowing just three runs on the year. Even more ridiculous is that he has just allowed 12 hits to opposing batters good for a .119 batting average and a 0.73 WHIP.

Today in his third Triple-A start with Columbus Williams struck out 10 batters allowing just one run and two hits over five and two thirds' innings of work. He made 91 pitches 59 of which went for strikes and induced 22 swings and misses keeping Louisville batters totally off balanced all game.

He threw 58 four-seam fastballs in the outing in which he averaged 98.0 mph on and topped out at 101.1 mph. He utilized his whole arsenal throwing 17 sliders, 15 curveballs, and one changeup in the start.

Williams is knocking on the door for a promotion to Cleveland to make his MLB debut. He really has nothing more to prove at the minor league level despite just making three starts at the Triple-A level.

Recent call-up Tanner Bibee made just 28 career minor league starts and just three at the Triple-A level before his promotion to Cleveland. With Williams start today he has now made 31 career starts and just like Bibee three at Columbus.

Something to ponder currently and it's not a coincidence that his starts currently align with Guardians current rookie pitcher Peyton Battenfield. Cleveland may want to give Battenfield another start or two but they could turn to Williams as early as next week.

I thought this was the best folder for this although it is not about the Guards.

Last season, Drohan adjusted his grip, and the Red Sox tracked his changeup spin axis through countless bullpen sessions. In Class-A Greenville, the Red Sox gave him specific counts in which he was to throw nothing but changeups, and after each start, pitching coach Bob Kipper would send Drohan a video compilation of the best ones. Back in the bullpen between starts, Drohan would work on the pitch some more and study the data, then keep throwing it in safe counts and check the video after each game. The feedback loop was constant. The progress was unmistakable.

From what I gather this is far more common then you might think. A guy told to only throw changeups in certain counts. And you can imagine what other things
they are told to help their development but NOT to win games (in the minors) or to build their stats.

So how valid are minor league stats if half the time they are simply practicing certain pitches or certain hitting techniques?

I guess the answer varies according to the situation but you DO often see guys with mediocre minor league stats do just fine in the majors.

some movement among our middle infielders:

Nate Furman 2b who hits singles, walks and steals bases from Lynchburg to Lake County
Brito 2b acquired for Nolan Jones [because who needs an OF;and who hit up a storm in AAA and has now moved up to the Rockies] from Lake County to Akron
Angel Genoa, SS,top international signing in 2022, debuts at Lynchburg.

Also of note:
SS Angel Martinez startng to hit, surges above 200 and adding some xb hits
SS Jose Tena continuing no to hit at Akron in his repeat there is hanging at around 165 In case room is needed on the 40 man roster he's one to go.

None of our guys on this week's HOT PROSPECT SHEET but neither are any guys we've traded away for useful pitchers like Tobias Myers

Plesac is looking worse in Columbus than he did for Cleveland, ERA up in the mid 7's after another terrible start; he's allowed 9 homeruns in 25 innings.

Turn him into an outfielder. Maybe he can hit!