Cleveland Sports Forum

Mikolajchak allowed his first run and took the loss for the Clippers last night, allowing a walk off grand slam.

Sunday Highlights:

Logan Allen once again on top of his game: 6 3 1 1 1 6 1.95
Tommy Mace with a good start 4 2/3 1 0 0 1 8

Rocchio remains out; did not yet see extent of injury

AAA:
Freeman single and HBP
Benson single and walk
Gonzalez double

AA
Naylor single 2 walks
Valera double 224 736 OPS
Will Brennan single double homer 6 rbi 337 913 OPS

Hi A:
Noel single 224 836
Martinez 0-4 288 875
Raynel Delgado drafting a round apart from Palacios out of high school: double and walk 293 766
former prospect Aaron Bracho 0-3 2K 171

Low A:
Greene homer and walk 298 710 [piece no. 3 of Lindor deal; piece number 4 a young pitcher Josh Wolf has not played this season after a poor '21]
Burgos single walk in game one; 2 walks in game 2; 264 745
Tolentino 1-7 with a walk over the 2 games 403 1011

lines for top 40 in action yesterday

CLE AAA #1 Tyler Freeman, SS 3 0 1 1 .200
CLE AA #4 George Valera, SS 5 2 1 1 .224 2B (4),
CLE HiA #10 Angel Martinez, SS 4 0 0 0 .288
CLE AA #11 Jose Tena, SS 5 1 0 0 .259
CLE HiA #20 Jhonkensy Noel, 3B 4 0 1 0 .224
CLE HiA #22 Petey Halpin, OF 4 0 0 0 .173
CLE HiA #25 Aaron Bracho, 2B 3 0 0 0 .171
CLE MAJ #27 Steven Kwan, OF 4 1 1 0 .316 2B (6),
CLE LoA #32 Isaiah Greene, OF 2 1 1 1 .208 HR (2), BB (15),
CLE LoA #33 Milan Tolentino, 2B 3 0 1 0 .403 BB (17),
CLE LoA #33 Milan Tolentino, 2B 3 0 0 0 .403 E (4),
CLE LoA #37 Luis Durango, OF 4 0 0 0 .167
CLE LoA #37 Luis Durango, OF 3 0 0 0 .167
CLE LoA #38 Yordys Valdes, SS 2 0 0 0 .214
CLE AA #39 Will Brennan, OF 5 2 3 6 .326 2B (8), HR (2),
CLE LoA #40 Jake Fox, SS 4 1 2 1 .257
CLE LoA #40 Jake Fox, SS 3 0 0 0 .257

CLE AA #9 Logan Allen, LHP 6.0 3 1 1 1 6 1.97 W (2-1)
CLE HiA #29 Tommy Mace, RHP 4.2 1 0 0 1 8 4.76
CLE MAJ #30 Konnor Pilkington, LHP 3.2 3 2 2 3 6 5.14 [Major League ERA 2.08 AAA ERA 9.53]

I was looking through my Baseball America 2021 Prospects Handbook and discovered that

Richie Palacios did not make the top 40;
Stephen Kwan was rated the best defensive outfielder in the Cleveland farm system, but did not make the top 40

our current bullpen is led by closer, prospect no 15, with key setup roles for no 32 and no 35 and long reliever no. 30 and top lefty about no. 12

Monday is the day of rest for minor league baseball, but I do have the BA Hot Sheet to review and post any of our guys who are hot enough to rate. Possibilities are Gavin Williams who had another great start for Lake County, possibly Tolentino who's still hitting 400 at Lynchburg but this wasn't his best week; Will Brennan who did a lot of hitting for Akron although not a major prospect.

And the winner is/are:

17. Logan T. Allen, LHP, Guardians
Team: Double-A Akron (Eastern)
Age: 23

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 1.64, 2 GS, 11 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HBP, 4 BB, 13 SO.

The Scoop: This is the week that Allen became the Guardians’ left-hander named Logan Allen, instead of being one of the Guardians lefties named Logan Allen. Guardians lefty Logan Shane Allen was designated for assignment by Cleveland and was claimed on waivers by the Orioles. But in the same week, Logan Taylor Allen, the Guardians lefty prospect in Akron, had two dominating starts. Allen’s weakness last year was a minor proclivity to give up home runs—he gave up nine in 60 innings after he was promoted to Double-A. So far this year, he’s allowed only one homer in 32.1 innings.

From Cleveland.com

Oscar Gonzalez update

Alex Eckelman, director of hitting development for the Guardians, joined the big-league team in Chicago on Monday after watching Columbus play Omaha.

Eckleman was impressed with outfielder Oscar Gonzalez, but not just for his hitting. Eckelman said he’s making improvements in all phases of his game -- baserunning, defense and throwing to the bases. Of course, it’s hard to overlook Gonzalez’s bat.

Gonzalez is hitting .311 (38-for-122) with eight homers and 25 RBI. He leads the farm system in homers, hits and slugging percentage.

Shortstop Brayan Rocchio, another prospect, is recovering from a concussion after sliding into third base in a recent game for Class AA Akron. Francona said he hit his head on the third baseman’s knee. “He’s got a slight concussion, but in the grand scheme of things he’s OK,” said Francona.

From Guardians of the Futures podcast

They said Tanner Burnes was only hitting 89 and had bad control last start. They said that there are rumors about his shoulder and his elbow.

I was hoping for good things from Lenny Torres, 2nd season back from ACL but off to a bad start


Season
Team
LG
Level
W
L
ERA
G
GS
CG
SHO
HLD
SV
SVO
IP
H
R
ER
HR
NP
HB
BB
IBB
SO
AVG
WHIP
GO/AO
2022 LC MID A+ 1 0 4.91 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 11.0 12 11 6 3 237 2 8 0 13 .300 1.82 1.00
2021 LYN CAR A 2 7 6.29 20 19 0 0 0 0 0 68.2 68 53 48 5 1294 10 48 0 73 .256 1.69 1.06
2018 IND2 AZL ROK 0 0 1.76 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 15.1 14 4 3 0 124 2 4 0 22 .246 1.17 1.63
Minors Career - - Minors 3 7 5.40 30 26 0 0 0 0 0 95.0 94 68 57 8 1655 14 60 0 108 .259 1.62 1.12

Burns performances have been good; sorry to hear the report.

in the BA chat:

Molly (New Jersey): Hi Geoff, thank you for the chat! Gavin Williams has pitched great to start the year, where do you see his season going and what can his upside be?


Geoff Pontes: I said before the year he could end up the best pitcher in the 2021 draft class and I'm not moving off that at all. He's sitting 96 mph with a plus slider and a solid curveball and changeup. He could be a top of the rotation horse if the health remains. That's obviously been a big question for him for years

last year's 5th round pick Tanner Bibee from Cal State Fullerton is looking great in High A. another 5 innings 1 run 10 strikeouts; for his debut season he' fanned 36 in 21 2/3 innings; walked 4; sounds like a typical Guardians pitching prospect

Xzaivion Curry with a nice game for Akron: 6 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks 5 K no runs; he's had good games and bad games; overall 3.90; susceptible to the long ball r in his 26 2/3 innings; a worrisome 13 in 98 innings last season when he had a 2.30 ERA and fanned 123 vs 16 walks in those 98 innings. No one's perfect

Ran across this yesterday, the terrific recent starting pitching in Akron over the last 10 games

Espino 4 2/3 IP 3H 1 ER 1 BB 5 SO
Allen 11IP 9H 2 ER 4BB 13SO
Burns 8 2/3IP 6H 1 ER 3 BB 11 SO
Cantillo 5IP 4H 0ER 0BB 6 SO
Curry 11IP 7H 1ER 3BB 13SO
Gaddis 10IP 6H 0ER 2BB 16 SO
TOTAL 50 1/3 INNNGS 35 hits 13 walks 64 strikeouts 5 earned runs ERA 0.89

And at Lake County, Tanner Bibee yesterday fanned 10 in 5 innings, no walks 1 run; He and Mace and Nikhazy and Williams in their last starts total an ERA of 0.8 and a ridiculous 33 strikeouts vs 7 walks in 18 2/3 innings.

MLB "hottest pitching prospect for each team"

Guardians: Gavin Williams, RHP (No. 7 on Cleveland prospect list)
Not only is Williams tied for the Minor League lead in opponent average, but he also has a 1.46 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings while making his pro debut in High-A. Drafted 23rd overall last July from East Carolina, he can maintain a mid-90s fastball deep into games, touch 100 mph and cross hitters up with a solid slider and changeup, both in the mid-80s.

Wednesday:

CLE AAA #1 Tyler Freeman, SS 5 0 1 1 0.225
CLE AA #4 George Valera, SS 4 2 2 1 0.242
CLE HiA #10 Angel Martinez, SS 4 0 1 0 0.269 E (3),
CLE AA #11 Jose Tena, SS 5 2 1 1 0.261 HR (2),
CLE AAA #13 Richard Palacios, 2B 5 1 1 1 0.239 BB (14),
CLE AAA #16 Bryan Lavastida, C 4 2 1 0 0.194 BB (9),
CLE HiA #18 G Rodriguez, 3B 4 0 0 0 0.292 E (3),
CLE HiA #20 Jhonkensy Noel, 3B 4 1 2 2 0.226 HR (7), BB (9),
CLE HiA #22 Petey Halpin, OF 5 1 0 0 0.163 SB (7),
CLE HiA #25 Aaron Bracho, 2B 3 0 0 0 0.158 BB (2),
CLE LoA #32 Isaiah Greene, OF 4 1 2 0 0.228 2 SB (5),
CLE LoA #33 Milan Tolentino, 2B 4 0 1 1 0.380 E (7),
CLE LoA #37 Luis Durango, OF 2 0 0 0 0.167 2 BB (11), CS (4),
CLE LoA #38 Yordys Valdes, SS 4 0 2 1 0.233
CLE AA #39 Will Brennan, OF 4 1 2 4 0.330 2B (9), HR (3),
CLE LoA #40 Jake Fox, SS 4 1 0 0 0.229 BB (24),

CLE AAA #14 Peyton Battenfield, RHP 7.0 5 1 1 2 3 2.54