Cleveland Sports Forum

Those were from a guy named Chris Clegg

DeLauter is supposed to be finally ready to get back into game action, starting in Arizona this week, Let's hope he gets more than one game in before he breaks another toe or foot or something else. Good luck.

Major changes on the Top 30 prospect list at midyear update by Baseball America

No. 1 is still DeLauter who's still a very good prospect when he's able to play'
No. 2 now 1B Ralphy Velazquez at Lynchburg
No. 3 Manzardo
No. 4 now IF Angel Genoa who's moved up to Lake County
No. 5 Jaison Chouiro OF in Lynchburg
No. 6 Alex Clemmey LHP in Lyncburg
No. 7 Juan Brito IF in Columbus
No. 8 Espino whose stuff is wonderful IF IF IF he is able to pitch
No. 9 Angel Martinez, who may never return to the minors
No. 10 CJ Kayfus who has moved about 20 places with an outstanding season at lake County and Akron including lots more homers than anticipated
No. 11 LHP Jackson Humphries in Lynchburg very inconsistent but talented
No. 12 SS Welbyn Francisco Arizona rookie league
No. 13 LHP Joey Cantillo in Columbus
No. 14 George Valera, he drops lower on every update
No. 15 JK Noel along with Martinez in today's Guardians' starting lineup
16. SS Rafael Ramirez started very slow in Lynchbug, coming along a bit, but only 18
17. Parker Messick, another LHP, has moved up to Akron
18. Kahlil Watson IF/OF Akron, a dozen homers, other stats are not impressive
19. Petey Halpin CF Akron
20. Gabriel Rodriguez II, not the one on Akron but the teenager in the Dominican league
21. Andrew Walters, reliever excelled in Akron, erratic in Columbus
22. Robert Arias OF in Dominican
23 Jose Tena
24. Dayan Frias Akron IF
25. J Rod
26. Jose Devers IF in Lake County
27. Jake Fox if/of Lake County
28. Schneemann, never on one of these lists before, he's the third of the group in today's starting lineup
29. Matthew Wilkinson another LHP, great minor league stats but described as a "soft tosser" with 89-90 mph fastball
30. Cooper Ingle C leading the Midwest League in hitting; little power;

The list remains low on pitchers, in fact the only RH arms are Espino [injured] and Walters [bullpen]

Among the pitchers who've done well but not enough for the list are more lefties: Doug Nikhazy promoted to Columbus, and Ryan Webb still in Akron.
RH Austin Peterson has great stats which haven't suffered since his promotion to Akron

But Wilkinson looks promising.

Drew Thorpe, recently promoted and doing well on Chisox, maxes out at 93 but his changeup is his go-to pitch.

If you're breaking stuff is good enough and your command is good, this can totally work. Breaking pitches are "in"!

See Maddux, Greg. Glavine, Tom. ETC

As I have been saying all along the Guardians have a terrific minor league system. Martinez at #9 ? Sure !

CJ Kayfus with 2 more homers and 5 rbi yesterday in a 19-3 Akron rout. For the season between Lake County and Akron he has 15 homers 4 triples 17 doubles and 70 RBI. Suddenly we are overwhelmed with 1st basemen.

[Poster's Note: Velazquez left yesterday's game after 2 at bats. Not sure why?]

DETROIT -- The Guardians have gotten a lot of attention for sending five players (the most of any American League team) to Arlington, Texas, for the All-Star festivities. But let’s not forget that two more players will be there to represent Cleveland.

On Saturday afternoon, first-base prospect Ralphy Velazquez (ranked No. 4 in Cleveland’s system and No. 87 overall, according to MLB Pipeline) and outfield prospect Jaison Chourio (No. 3, No. 85 overall) will suit up at Globe Life Field for the All-Star Futures Game.

There are a slew of prospects making noise in the Guardians’ system this year. Kyle Manzardo (No. 2, No. 35 overall) and Juan Brito (No. 6) have been solid with Triple-A Columbus. C.J. Kayfus (No. 27) has been outstanding with Double-A Akron. If Chase DeLauter (No. 1, No. 28 overall) would’ve been healthy, he may have been in the Futures Game conversation, too.

“These are good problems to have,” Guardians assistant general manager James Harris said. “And fortunately, we don’t make the decision who gets to play in the Futures Game. That’s made by MLB. But we could’ve had five or 10 guys easily play in that game.”

But Velazquez and Chourio are among the youngest of the standouts in Cleveland’s system this year, which makes it exciting for the organization to see the depth that it has. The pair of 19-year-olds have spent all of the 2024 season with Single-A Lynchburg and each has already started to make a name for themself.

Ralphy Velazquez
Velazquez was selected in the first round of last year’s MLB Draft and is projected by MLB Pipeline to reach the Majors in 2027. He was taken as a catcher but has moved primarily to first base. Velazquez was attractive to the Guardians because of his ability to hit for both average and power, which feeds into the organization’s new mantra of prioritizing small ball while feeling comfortable to impact the baseball much harder than in the past.

Velazquez has nine homers and 20 doubles with 46 RBIs through 69 games, with a .264 average and an .821 OPS.

“He’s hit quite a bit,” Harris said with a laugh. “We were really excited with him last year. We’ve slimmed him down. He’s gonna play a little bit of the outfield. He played some left field the other day. The bat’s electric. He’s hit, I think, [nine] home runs so far already. Yeah, he’s a really exciting young player for us. Futures Game acknowledged that. They came to us and asked if he could play. We’re excited to have him there.”

Jaison Chourio
Like Velazquez, Chourio is also projected by MLB Pipeline to debut in ’27. But unlike his teammate, Chourio has been in Cleveland’s organization since ’22 after he was signed out of Venezuela. The outfielder has had the benefit of learning from his older brother, Jackson, who made headlines this year by signing a record $82 million contract before making his big league debut. Growing up, that challenged him to try to compete with an older and bigger player who had incredible talent. It helped him establish the confidence of knowing he can compete with anybody, and so far, that’s what he’s carried into his pro career.

Chourio is known more for his hit ability over his power, but MLB Pipeline experts believe if he adds more muscle to his 6-foot-1 frame, he could be a player who hits 15-20 homers a year. For now, it’s about his contact and his speed. He’s hit .273 with a .787 OPS, 20 doubles, three homers and 49 RBIs in 69 games this season. But what’s most impressive is his speed, swiping 26 bases in 32 attempts.

“Athletic center fielder. Can also play on the corners, as well,” Harris said. “Big body. Different from a lot of the frames that you’ve seen in our organization before, but [he's] just as versatile an athlete all over the field. He’s a really exciting player. I hate to do comps or anything like that, but we really like him.”

Wednesday highlights:

Milan Tolentino with his 7th and 8th homers for Akron.
another good night on the mound for Austin Peterson; 5 no hit inning,s final line: 5.2 1 2 2 3 5 1.93 at Akron

even better pitching by Dug Nikhazy a round 2 pick in 2021:
6 2 hit shutout innings in AAA no walks 8 strikeouts
His not too shabby AAA 3 game total:

17 6 0 0 5 19.
He might just be more useful than Spencer Howard

Thursday games:

AKRON:
kayfus 3 rbi with a triple and a walk
Tolentino follows up his 2 homer day with 2 doubles and a walk. Slow start but June and July 109-23-34-15 11 doubles; 6 homers;
Messick with a decent: 6 6 2 2 2 7 a couple solo homers

LAKE COUNTY:
Genao single and homer
Mooney triple

LYNCHBURG
Juan Benjamin 2B went 4-4 with 2 doubles and a steal
he's been red hot in July: 16 hits in 28 at bats, 4 doubles and a homer; 571/613/821

ARIZONA
no game yesterday; I checked for Wednesday to check on Footse DeLauter who it been announced would be getting some game activity this week.
Shockingly he was not in the lineup
Highly-rated IF Welbyn Francisca, 18 year old, had a 3 hit day with 2 doubles; avg is 291; OPS 852

Another top draft pick who's been injured ever since we drafted him, Justin Campbell, 6-7 right hander, round 1A draft pick in 2022 is listed on the Arizona roster, but still hasn't made his pro debut.

Here's a note on Arizona prospect, not sure how up to date it is

#Guardians 20yr old LHP prospect Luis Flores picked up the win tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief Tuesday night in the Arizona Complex League striking out three Brewers batters. Flores now has an incredible 35 strikeouts over just 16.2 innings pitched on the season good for a 18.90 SO/9 rate.

Found the Arizona team roster. Campbelli is listed but with the notation: Injured full season. This is 3rd such full season injury
Not even listed that way is Jake Zibin, a hard throwing 17 year old drafted the same year.
And, no, DeLauter is not on the roster.

How does the full 2022 draft look?

1 DeLauter injured
1A Campbell injured
2 Messick LHP Akron recent promotion; rated about 12-15 on prospect lists
3 Lampe OF Akron having a good past month, not a ton of power
4 Furman 2B Akron singles hitter; on the short term IL
5. Lipscomb OF Lake County singles hitter
6 DeLucia RHP Lynchburg, finally debuted a couple weeks ago after years on the IL
7 J Santos RHP 2 years after the draft he's in the Arizona leagaue, having pitched 1 game before; his ERA is over 18 with 32 walks in 11 innings WOW!
8 Humphries LHP not injured; makes the top 20 on prospect lists; in Lynchburg, terrible command
9 Austin Peterson RHP doing a star turn in Akron after midseason promotion; most effective of the bunch; BA writeup earlier this week
10 Zibin

overall: Not much success in 3rd summer. hardly the basis of a superior farm system.

overall: Not much success in 3rd summer. hardly the basis of a superior farm system.

Really ? How many major league players does each draft produce on average ?

Baseball America rates DeLauter the Guardians #1 prospect. How bad could the draft have been ?