Cleveland Sports Forum

De Lauter with a single today 1-3 so far in a scoreless tie for the RDucks.

DeLauter finished yesterday with 2 hits and a sac fly for 3 rbi; 333 for his few days in Akron and 733 OPS
Aaron Bracho with his 18th homer and a single and 3 rbi OPS 796. few more games to get it back over 800
Brito single and walk; OPS 818

Is lefty Tyler Thornton a bullpen prospect? inmpressive 79 strikeouts in 50 innings; 2.66 ERA, well he's walked 32 that's not a good stat

In Columbus' loss, Manzardo with his 13th homer and a walk; Rocchio 2 singles, Noel and Gonzalez one apiece
Cantillo finished 5 2/3 4 4 4 4 8 2 homeruns

Noel with his 27th homerun, one behind Johnathan Rodriguez for the team's best. Both are RH hitters, that could be useful

3 2/3 hitless by Bieber 7 strikeouts 3 walks.

Oscar 3 doubles and a walk; Brayan a double and a single and a steal; Johnathan dobule and two walks
One more week for Columbus


Akron's season finale, 4 innings in; DeLauter single and walk; Bracho single and RBI
Ross Carver acquired when we removed Carlos Vargas from the roster last fall completing a very unsuccessful campaign, 3 runs so far today, for the year he's at 6.24 ERA. Don't imagine we'll see him again.
Looks like a pretty even exchange; Vargas got 5 2/e innings in the majors for Arizona and produced a 5.74 ERA. Was worse in AAA with a 6.80 ERA and 31 walks in 41 relief innings.

DeLauter finished the day with 2 singles and 2 walks. Final stats for his 2023:
Rookie ball to get in shape: 286/447/500 in 9 games
High A 366/403/549 42 games
AA 364/464/404 6 games

Brito double and 2 walks; he slowed down toward the end of the summer [except note in September he drew 13 walks vs 5 strikeouts] ; his final numbers
High A 265/379/424 35 games
AA 276/373/444 87 games at age 21

Unlike most recent seasons, this has been a losing year for the farm system. 475 winning pct ranks 23rd of 30 teams

Teams' players of the year are being announed by Baseball America this week; and soon Cleveland will pick Feller and Boudreau winners for top pitcher and top position player.

Pitcher is a tough one since the stars in AAA all only played there for 1/2 the season before joining the big league club. Cantillo wasn't all that impressive statistically. I would vote for Will Dion based on performance not on prospect status. Not a great year for our young pitchers.
Lake County 1.87 ERA .198 avg against 1.01 WHIP
Akron 2.81 ERA .225 avg against 1.13 WHIP

Position player: J. Rodriguez with his 28 homers total. His splits
Akron 289/364/512
Columbus 291/379/595
Again not the top prospect but top performer

Manzardo hit 2 homers and a double yesterday for the Clippers.
We'll be counting on him to share the 1B/DH role with Naylor next year. Should be a big step up from what Josh Bell and etc gave us this year. Can only hope

BA's choice:

Juan Brito: Guardians 2023 Minor League Player Of The Year

Typically, the Guardians’ front office prioritizes flexibility each November, trading away players who would need to occupy a 40-man roster spot or else become Rule 5 draft eligible.

They made an exception for 21-year-old second baseman Juan Brito.

Cleveland traded power-hitting outfielder Nolan Jones to the Rockies last November to acquire Brito, who was coming off a breakthrough season at Low-A Fresno. The Guardians added Brito to the 40-man roster on Nov. 15, 2022.

The switch-hitting infielder split the 2023 season between High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron. In 122 games he hit .273/.375/.439 with 14 home runs and six stolen bases. He ranked third in the Eastern League with a .817 OPS. [NOTE: He's now in Columbus for the last week of the season]

“Brito has transitioned well to our organization and has displayed a work ethic and desire to get better every day,” Guardians assistant general manager James Harris said.
Brito appears to be the latest prospect in a crowded field of emerging Guardians middle infielders that includes Gabriel Arias and Tyler Freeman, who debuted in 2022; and Brayan Rocchio and Jose Tena, who made their MLB debuts this season.

Brito could be next. His primary position is second base, but he made more than a dozen starts at third base and shortstop this season.

“In addition, he has added arm strength in season that he will continue to develop during the offseason,” Harris said. “Currently, second base is his best position, but the added arm strength will make him a good option for us at third base as well.”

In addition to his versatility, Brito has nice secondary skills at the plate. He draws walks at a high rate (13.5%), makes a lot of contact (15.7% strikeouts) and shows good power for a young middle infielder.

“As a switch-hitter, he has demonstrated an elite skill to make contact and has shown the ability to hit the ball hard at productive angles,” Harris said. “He is slightly more powerful hitting lefthanded but has improved his swing decisions—and contact is his trademark.”

Fantastic trade candidate or move Giminez to SS and trade Arias, Freeman or Tena. You still have Angel Martinez and others in the minors.

BA's featured player of the day:

September 21 Baseball America Prospect Report

Kyle Manzardo, 1B, Guardians: Acquired for Aaron Civale from the Rays at the trade deadline, Manzardo had to overcome injury before debuting for his new club. After a difficult 2023 season Manzardo looks to be hitting his stride late. With a home run in last night’s game, Manzardo has three home runs over the last two games and five home runs over his last eight. Blessed with advanced plate skills, if Manzardo can recapture his power swing from 2022, he could be a rookie of the year candidate for the Guardians in 2023.

Carolina League full season all star SS:

SS: Jose Devers, Lynchburg (CLE)
20 years old 6-0 140[?]

252/345/398 11 home runs 34 steals
Defense ?

How about that, a talented SS. Add to the stockpile