Cleveland Sports Forum

Good now we have 3 shortstops instead of just one.

Kahlil Watson 20 year IF acquired from Marlins has a very enegmatic resume. Great draft prospect, dropped to No. 16 in the draft and taken by Miami
Great hitting in his first year.
Then got into trouble swearing at an umpire, suspended a month.
Fast runner, great arm, great swing.
Swings at everything strikes out like mad.
Was down to No. 11 on the Marlins prospect list and immediately slotted No. 15 for Cleveland.

Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 50 | Run: 65 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 45

A candidate to go No. 1 overall in the 2021 Draft on a below-slot deal to the Pirates, Watson instead slipped all the way to the Marlins at No. 16 amid signability and makeup concerns. Signed for $4,540,790, he batted .232/.296/.395 with a 35 percent strikeout rate in Single-A during his first full pro season and was demoted for a month after making a threatening gesture toward an umpire in July. He was posting similar numbers in High-A this year before Miami shipped him and Jean Segura to the Guardians for Josh Bell at the Trade Deadline.

Watson still possesses the physical ability that enchanted the Marlins. He has a smooth left-handed swing, plenty of bat speed and sneaky strength that lead to at least solid raw power and well-above-average speed. But he won't come close to realizing his potential if he can't learn to make better swing decisions and stop getting himself out at the plate, and he also needs to do a better job of controlling his emotions.

Wednesday lines

Brito, Juan Akron RubberDucks Guardians 4 1 1 0 0 0
Halpin, Petey Akron RubberDucks Guardians 4 1 2 2 0 0 HR, 2B
Martinez, Angel Akron RubberDucks Guardians 4 0 1 0 0 0
Rodriguez, Gabriel Akron RubberDucks 2 0 1 0 0 1
Tena, Jose Akron RubberDucks Guardians 3 0 1 0 0 1
Arias, Gabriel Cleveland Guardians Guardians 3 0 0 0 0 1
Arias, Gabriel Cleveland Guardians Guardians 4 1 3 0 0 1
Brennan, Will Cleveland Guardians Guardians 4 1 1 0 0 1
Brennan, Will Cleveland Guardians Guardians 3 0 0 0 0 0
Freeman, Tyler Cleveland Guardians Guardians 2 0 0 0 0 1
Naylor, Bo Cleveland Guardians Guardians 3 0 1 1 1 1 2B
Lavastida, Bryan Columbus Clippers Guardians 6 1 1 1 0 2 2B
Noel, Jhonkensy Columbus Clippers Guardians 5 3 4 0 1 0 2B
Rocchio, Brayan Columbus Clippers Guardians 5 0 2 3 1 0 2B
Valera, George Columbus Clippers Guardians 3 3 1 1 1 1 2B
DeLauter, Chase Lake County Captains Guardians 4 0 1 0 0 0
Fox, Jake Lake County Captains Guardians 4 0 1 0 0 0
Genao, Angel Lynchburg Hillcats Guardians 4 0 0 0 0 1

Burns, Tanner Akron RubberDucks Guardians 3.0 1 0 0 0 2 3
Curry, Xzavion Cleveland Guardians Guardians 1.2 2 0 0 0 0 3
Williams, Gavin Cleveland Guardians Guardians 5.0 4 2 2 0 4 6 L
Enright, Nic Columbus Clippers Guardians 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0

Kyle Manzardo is expected to be in Columbus next week.

Watson with a home run and a single for his first game at Lake County.

VIDEO

#Guardians 20yr old INF prospect Kahlil Watson with a solo bomb in the 6th inning for the @LCCaptains
vs West Michigan! Watson now has two hits in his first three AB's on the night.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1687250076534550528

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro
·
11h

#Guardians will have 22-year-old INF prospect Jose Tena with the club in Cleveland tomorrow but can't confirm yet if he will be activated or there for insurance if either Freeman or Naylor hit the injured list. Tena was just recently promoted to Columbus but is on the 40-man.

Tena has a career 333 average in AAA on 3 at bats.

Kahlil Watson debuted for Lake County with a homer and a single.

Kahlil Watson, SS, Guardians: The Marlins’ 2021 first-round pick was dealt to Cleveland on Aug. 1 as part of the deal that brought Josh Bell to Miami. The Guardians’ acquisition of Watson represented an opportunity to take a chance on a prospect whose stock was down but was clearly still quite talented. He stayed in the Midwest League, moving from High-A Beloit to Lake County, and made an immediate impact in his first game. Facing West Michigan, Watson went 2-for-4 with his eighth home run of the season.

Also highlighted by BA:

Angel Genao, SS, Guardians: Last season, Genao was one of the talks of the Arizona Complex League. This year, he dealt with a torn meniscus that delayed his season and has been only so-so since joining Low-A Lynchburg. On Thursday, he had a banner night. The 20-year-old middle infielder went 2-for-6 with a double, a home run and stole home as well. The blast was his first of the season.

all our top 30 in action thursday:

Brito, Juan Akron RubberDucks Guardians 5 0 2 2 0 0 3B, 2B
Halpin, Petey Akron RubberDucks Guardians 4 2 2 2 1 1 CS
Martinez, Angel Akron RubberDucks Guardians 5 1 2 1 0 1
Rodriguez, G Akron RubberDucks Guardians 4 1 2 0 0 1
Lavastida, Bryan Columbus Clippers Guardians 3 2 2 0 2 1 that means 2 walks, 1 strikeout
Noel, Jhonkensy Columbus Clippers Guardians 3 0 0 1 0 0
Tena, Jose Columbus Clippers Guardians 3 0 1 2 1 0 2B
Valera, George Columbus Clippers Guardians 4 1 1 1 1 2
DeLauter, Chase Lake County Captains Guardians 4 0 0 0 0 0
Fox, Jake Lake County Captains Guardians 4 0 0 0 0 1
Watson, Kahlil Lake County Captains Guardians 4 1 2 1 0 0 HR
Genao, Angel Lynchburg Hillcats Guardians 6 3 2 3 0 1 HR, 2B, SB

Messick, Parker Lake County Captains Guardians 5.0 1 0 0 0 1 6 he's either awful or excellent rarely in between

some nice work in the Columbus box score

Cantillo 5 1/3 3 0 0 2 6 ERA in AAA now 4.86
Noel double
Valera double and walk
J Rodriguez single
Martinez promoted to replace Tena 2 walks

for Akron Tolentino debuts promoted to replace Martinez who's replacing Tena who's replacing Freeman; 1-3 for Milan after a sizzling July for Lake Captain

don't see any promotions to Lake County but Kahlil Watson is new there. 3 k in 3 ab today so far. Jake Fox who had a good July is 2-4 today including a double

CF Luis Durango first appearance of the season after a few days in the Arizona league for some rehab; 1-2. He's a basestealing whiz who doesn't get on base enough to be a threat. He hit 189 at Lynchburg last year

Newest Guardians Prospect Kahlil Watson Puts On A Show In Lake County Captains Debut

By Tommy Wild | Last updated 8/3/23

The Cleveland Guardians made a buzzer-beater deal before the trade deadline on Tuesday evening. It was so close to the 6:00 deadline that the reports and team confirmation of the trade didn't release until almost a half hour after the deadline had officially passed.

However, Cleveland made the move and sent Josh Bell to the Miami Marlins. The short-term goal of this trade is to open up the DH position in order to give Jose Ramirez, Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, and now Brayan Rochhio opportunities in the field and give them days off in which they can still hit.

The Guardians also received veteran infielder Jean Segura in this deal, but the team cut him as soon as the trade went down.

There is another piece to this trade though. That would be the 2021 16th overall pick, Kahlil Watson.

The 20-year-old entered the draft right out of Wake Forst High School in North Carolina. He's unbelievably athletic and is already ranked as the team's 15th-best prospect, per MLB Pipeline. But even Chris Antonetti admitted there are some "maturity issues" that he needs to work through.

However, if he can work through all of this Watson can be a great piece to Cleveland's future. He made that very clear in his first game with his new team

Watson made his debut with the Lake County Captains, Cleveland's High-A Affiliate, on Thursday evening, and put on a show.

The very first pitch he saw was ripped into right field for a base hit.

It also didn't take long for Watson to collect his first home run and RBI in his new organization as he hit a solo shot in the sixth inning.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1687267888988573696

No. 15 prospect Kahlil Watson) continues his stellar Lake County debut with his first homer as a Captain!

Of course, the dialogue is going to be that the Guardians acquired another infielder to go along with an already clogged position group throughout the organization. However, if Watson can grow into a solid ball player the team will find a spot for him.

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Captains Batting


Batting Average
Dayan Frias
.265

Runs
Jake Fox
43

Home Runs
Dayan Frias
10

Runs Batted In
Dayan Frias
44

Stolen Bases
Joe Lampe
14

FULL STATS

https://www.milb.com/lake-county/stats/
Dayan Frias also leads in AVG, SLG, OBP, and OPS
I did not know that until now.

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JAISON CHOURIO BATTING
OF B/T: S/R 6' 1"/162 Age: 18

AB 120
R 36
H 43
DBL 12
TPL 1
HR 1
RBI20
SB16
BB 33
SO 29
SB 16
CS 1
AVG 358
slg 492
OBP 494
OPS 986

Like to see some better power numbers. Only 12 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 home run. Of course, he is only 18 years old.

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Watson put on a different show the next 2 games:

0-3 with 3 strikeouts on Friday
0-4 with 2 strikeouts on Saturday'
rained out Sunday