Cleveland Sports Forum

Hey civ have you gotten Next Year in Cleveland lately?

Free game today on MLBTV. Lake County vs Dodgers minor league team. Tugboat pitching and Bazzana hitting.

Wow ! Lake County is loaded ! Travis Bazzana, Angel Genao ( ranked #84 best prospect by MLB pipeline), Jacob Cozart ( 2nd round pick this year) and Ralphy Velazquez !

Hi, guys, back from time in New Mexico. No, I have not seen Next Year in Cleveland. Will it be a good year for the Guardians?

3 doubles by Bazzana yesterday.

While I was away lots of player movement, including

Velazquez to Lake County; also Antunez
Igle to Akron

LoganAllen not very good Friday for Columbus; a couple of homers.

Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 8/15/24

Aug 16, 2024
Scoreboard:
Triple-A - Columbus Clippers 9, Iowa Cubs 5 (F/7 - G1)
Triple-A - Iowa Cubs 5, Columbus Clippers 1 (F/7 - G2)
Double-A - Akron RubberDucks 5, Erie SeaWolves 2
High-A - Great Lakes Loons 4, Lake County Captains 2 (F/7 - G1)
High-A - Great Lakes Loons 4, Lake County Captains 1 (F/7 - G2)
Single-A - Lynchburg Hillcats, Down East Wood Ducks 9 (F/10)
DSL - Orioles Orange 8, CLE Mendoza 5
DSL - CLE Goryl 12, LAD Mega 4
Highlights:

Myles Straw (CF, Columbus - Game 1): 3-3, 1 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB - Straw's three-hit, three-RBI performance paced an impressive opener of yesterday’s twin bill for the Clippers. It was his second three-hit effort of a month in which he has slashed .435/.481/.652 with five doubles and nine RBI in 28 plate appearances.

Chase DeLauter (CF, Akron): 2-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K - DeLauter extended his team-leading hit streak to seven games with a multi-hit effort that included a three-run homer that provided the exact margin of victory for the RubberDucks. During the aforementioned streak, which has encompassed nearly all of August, Chase is slashing .385/.400/.654 with nine RBI in thirty plate appearances.

Trenton Denholm (SP, Akron): W (1-1), 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R (earned), 1 WP, 1 BK, 5 K - After a rough start to his Double-A career last Saturday at Canal Park (7 ER in 5 IP), Denholm shone in his road debut for the Mallards of Main Street, allowing only one run in the same number of frames and cutting his baserunners allowed total by over half (from 13 to 6).

Jorge Burgos (LF, Lake County Game 1): 2-3, HR, RBI - Burgos has 15 dingers on the season. Not bad for a guy who isn’t really on many prospect lists. He’s repeating Lake County but there are strong exit velos here (well over 100 many times this year), that at least make you pay attention.

Welbyn Francisca (SS, Lynchburg): 2-4, 3 RBI, BB - Francisca has hit very well after an initial adjustment period in non-complex ball for the first time. The bat looks as advertised so far.

Juan Benjamin (1B, Lynchburg): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI - The double was a walkoff winner for Benjamin and the Hillcats, who took over 1B full time with Ralphy’s promotion.

Juneiker Caceres (LF, DSL Mendoza): 2-for-4, R, RBI - Caceres’ red-hot month of August continues with a two-hit day. His batting average believe it or not went down since turning the page on the calendar as he is now hitting .556 with a .581 on-base percentage and .741 OPS in eight games. The 17-year-old is becoming very acclimated to the DSL and has looked comfortable throughout the season.

Yeiferth Castillo (RF, DSL Goryl): 3-for-5, R, 3B, RBI - Castillo has shown all season long that he is the most consistent presence in the DSL Goryl lineup and that trend continued on Thursday with a three-hit performance for the 17-year-old. He recorded a triple in the bottom of the third that plated a run and had hits in the fifth and seventh innings as well. Castillo now has a hit in each of his last five games.
Notable Performances:

Estevan Florial (LF, Columbus - Game 1): 2-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB - Florial reached base 19 times over the course of a then team-leading nine-game on-base streak (an average of 2.11 times per game). I use the past tense as the streak was ended by a nightcap hat trick.

Kyle Manzardo (1B, Columbus - Game 1): 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB - Like Florial, Manzardo extended a significant on-base streak - in his case to seven games - with a two-hit Game 1. Also like Florial, his streak ended in a hitless Game 2.

Johnathan Rodriguez (DH, Columbus - Game 1): 2-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K - It was a similar story for J-Rod’s hitting streak, which hit six games in the first contest before being snapped in the second.

Joey Cantillo (SP, Columbus - Game 1): ND, 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R (both earned), 2 BB, 6 K, 2 HR allowed - Much like in the last outing of his recent cup of coffee with the Big Club, Cantillo’s return to Triple-A was marred by a pair of longballs despite being otherwise impressive.

Andrew Walters (RP, Columbus - Game 1): 1 IP, 1 H - Walters’ stellar rookie season rolled along last night with his sixth straight scoreless outing (five combined frames).

Dom Nunez (C, Columbus - Game 2): 2-2, 1. RBI, 1 BB - Nunez's perfect night at the plate, including driving in the only Clippers run, highlighted an underwhelming nightcap for the Clip Show.

Alexfri Planez (RF, Akron): 2-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 K - Planez's Thursday night could be described as feast-or-famine, but when he feasted, it was a veritable banquet, with Alexfri scoring both times he got a hit - including driving himself in on a fifth-inning solo shot that put a bow on the RubberDucks scoring for the evening.

Yorman Gomez (SP, Lake County Game 1): 5IP, 7H, 4R (3ER), 2BB, 7K - Things got a little off the rails for Gomez in the fourth inning, but the first-third and fifth were solid and he fanned seven batters in his High-A debut.

Ralphy Velazquez (1B, Lake County Game 2): 1-3, 2B, BB - Nice to see Velazquez get his first extra base hit at the High-A level and draw a walk.

Barrett Riebock (RF, Lynchburg): 1-5, HR, RBI - Riebock hit his first Low-A homer in this outing.

Randy Martinez (SS, DSL Mendoza): 2-for-4, 3 R, 3B, GIDP - For just the second time since the month of June, Martinez had hits in back-to-back games, highlighted by his triple on Thursday.

Jhorvic Abreus (1B, DSL Goryl): 2-for-4, R, 3B, RBI, BB - Abreus reached base three times via a triple, single and walk and this is his third multi-hit performance since the month of June.

Gabriel Rodriguez (SS, DSL Goryl): 1-for-3, R, 2B, 3 RBIs, BB, SF - Despite just one hit, Rodriguez delivered a team-high three RBIs in Thursday’s win, including the team’s first runs. His double in the third scored two and he added a sacrifice fly later in the game.

So that was the Next Year in Cleveland site I was alluding to civ.

It's a subscription site. It does this type of article most days.

Thanks, someone [you? Joe?] has posted some of their reports. The only thing I don't care for is that include roughly everyone, e.g. Myles Straw on that one, who might not be one of our top 100 prospects at this point. But it's a very good distillation of the box scores. I always read the MILB.com box scores and transaction updates.

I'm very happy with Francisca in Lynchburg; Bazzana has put his bad week behind him in Lake County; DeLauter is finally dong some good things at the plate in Akron.

Interested in Ryan Webb, who made BA's best tool list for the Eastern League for Best Changeup
And Webb has debuted very decently after promotion to Columbus
and has snuck onto to the bottom of the updated Top 30 list at mlb.com

Speaking of Best Tools, Jaison Chourio is all over the list for the Carolina League:
Best Batting Prospect
Best Strikezone Judgement
Best Defensive Outfielder
MOST EXCITING PLAYER



Other Guardian prospects on the lists:
Joe Lampe fastest baserunner in the AA Eastern League
Austin Peterson best control Midwest League, doing the same now with Akron
Jose Devers, best Infield Arm, Midwest League

Saturday high and lowlights:

Lynchburg:
18 year old 1B Luis Merejo only arrived a couple of weeks ago after the Arizona league ended but has had time to hit 7 doubles, a triple and 3 homers in 42 at bats. Average 381; OPS 1272. Good sized 6-2 188.

Francisca with 2 singles; 347 with 927 OPS

Chourio 2 walks

Lake County: 2 innings before the rain

Akron:
Cooper Ingle 2 singles and 2 walks; avg is 33 OPS 982 after his recent promotion
Kayfus has stopped hitting; 0-5 brings him down to 274 OPS still a nice 869
Parker Messick with another good start: 6 5 2 2 0 8 ERA 1.99 in AA in 45 innings, he has 62 strikeouts to 11 walks

Columbus:
The sort of long lost George Valera with his 11th homer
Will Dion has really starightened things out after a poor start. The smallish lefty went 5.2 2 1 1 1 6
but Triston McKenzie is nowhere near ready to return 3 homer in 3 2/3 innings 3.2 6 5 5 3 7

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Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 8/17/24
Justin Lada
Aug 18






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Scoreboard:
Triple-A - Iowa Cubs 12, Columbus Clippers 3
Double-A - Akron RubberDucks 4, Erie Seawolves 3 (F/10)
High-A - Great Lakes Loons 3, Lake County Captains 0 (Susp. 2nd inning)
Single-A - Lynchburg Hillcats 6, Down East Wood Ducks 4
Highlights:

Cooper Ingle (C, Akron): 2-3, 2 BB - It’s only been a week and Ingle hasnt’t played everyday since being promoted, but he’s been just as good in that short time as he has all season. Eventually there will be a book and he’ll hit a rough patch. Most wonder if teams will not worry about throwing him strikes as much and force him to do damage and not let him draw walks like he’s good at. But so far it’s hard to argue his offensive production and teams should be concerned about throwing him strikes.

Alexfri Planez (RF, Akron): 2-4, HR, RBI - Planez has 15 homers on the year now. He’s always had good raw power and 15 isn’t bad considering how much time he missed last season, but he’s not exactly consistent and doesn’t get to his power enough to make it impactful as he moves up. But he’s also always had tantalizing tools.

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Parker Messick (SP, Akron): 6IP, 5H, 2ER, 8K - It’s truly amazing that Messick hasn’t skipped a beat at Double-A so far. His ERA is under 2.00 now and he’s still missing bats and didn’t walk a batter in this one. He probably should have been Double-A long before he was promoted.

Ryan Cesarini (RF, Lynchburg): 3-4, 2 2B, 3B, 2 RBI - No surprise the Guardians 14th rounder is adjusting well early in Lynchburg to start his career after a good college career of hitting. But three extra base hits is nice to see because he wasn’t exactly known for much power.
Notable Performances:

Gabriel Arias (SS, Columbus): 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI - Give credit to Arias, since being sent down, he’s hitting and hasn’t really stopped. He’s not walking a ton, so that’s concerning about his approach, but working on some mechanical changes, he need to swing the bat to make it work. It’s a smaller sample, but he’s hitting the best he’s ever hit in Triple-A. And instead of going down and feeling sorry for himself, he’s performing and at least drawing good attention to his game one way or another.

Triston McKenzie (SP, Columbus): 3.2 IP, 6H, 5ER, 3BB, 7K - McKenzie didn’t have a problem missing bats when it came to retiring 11 batters, but in between it was rough for him and three walks in 3.2 innings is still too much. He had better starts leading up to this, but clearly Cleveland needs him to be more consistent.

Welbyn Francsica (SS, Lynchburg): 2-4 - It’s just two singles but Francisca finds a way to get two hits a night it feels like.

Luis Merejo (1B, Lynchburg): 1-3, 2B, BB, K - Merejo continues to get extra base hits and is doing well to keep his K/BB rates in check as well for someone who is a power hitter.

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Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 8/18/24
Arthur Kinney
Aug 19






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Triple-A - Columbus Clippers 7, Iowa Cubs 2
Double-A - Akron RubberDucks 6, Erie SeaWolves 5
High-A - Great Lakes Loons at Lake County Captains (both suspended and scheduled games CCD - Rain)
Single-A - Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Down East Wood Ducks 3
HIGHLIGHTS

Ryan Webb (SP, Columbus): W (1-0), 5.2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K - Webb continues to dominate International League hitters early in his time at Triple-A, with this scoreless sophomore effort bringing him to an even eleven innings at the level, during which he has allowed only one earned run while striking out seven. Also of note is that his off-speed stuff made up for an uncharacteristically sub-90 MPH fastball, with 15 of his 16 series finale whiffs coming on sliders or changeups (hat tip to Justin on this stat).

Chase DeLauter (RF, Akron): 1-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB - While the majority of DeLauter’s three trips to the basepaths in Sunday’s two-run effort came via walk, DeLauter extended his hitting streak to nine games with a sixth-inning solo shot that kickstarted a game-tying three-run frame. During this streak, Chase is batting .394 with an equal ISO and eleven RBI, five of those resulting from an active three-game home run streak. This kind of potential is why he is still a top prospect despite his injury issues.

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Kyle Scott (SP, Lynchburg): ND, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R (earned), 5 K - After not pitching in the previous week’s roadtrip to Fayetteville, North Carolina, Scott has come back better than ever, bookending the recently-completed homestand against the Wood Ducks with a pair of six-inning gems during which he allowed a grand total of one run. His is a name to watch for on the Lake County Opening Day roster next April.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

Myles Straw (CF, Columbus): 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 HBP, 2 SB - Straw has now reached safely in six straight games after what was surprisingly the only multi-hit effort of a seven-run Sunday for the Clip Show.

Kahlil Watson (2B, Akron): 2-5, 1 R - The Mallards of Main Street had a similar dearth of multi-hit performances yesterday, with Watson’s first multi hit effort since his late-July return from the 7-day IL extending his hit streak to five games and making it seven of his last eight games with a trip to the basepaths.

C.J. Kayfus (1B, Akron): 1-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 K - Kayfus’ Sunday was a textbook example of one hit being so notable that it imputes that status upon its hitter’s entire performance. C.J.'s go-ahead, and ultimately game-winning, three-run blast in the seventh was so pivotal to the RubberDuck victory - and such an impressive swing of the bat in its own right - that he is still listed here despite the golden sombrero.

Austin Peterson (SP, Akron): ND, 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (all earned), 1 WP, 9 K, 1 Pickoff - Despite a rough last couple of innings that saw him allow multiple earned runs for the first time since July 31 in Harrisburg, Peterson was a strikeout machine yesterday, with his nine punchouts in five frames equaling the same totals in his season debut for his second best K:IP ratio of the season (1.80), trailing only the 1.86 (13 K in 7 IP) that he posted as a Lake County Captain in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 29.

Jaison Chourio (RF, Lynchburg): 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 K - Chourio made it 3-for-3 in terms of Guardian affiliates only having one multi-hit day each. Chourio’s pair of hits were primarily notable, however, as the 45th and 46th trips to the basepaths of what is now a 22-game on-base streak.

Tommy Hawke (CF, Lynchburg): 0-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K - Chourio wasn’t the only Hillcat to extend a lengthy on-base streak as Hawke’s pair of walks not only extended his official on-base streak to 15 games (with 34 trips to the basepaths!) but also made him a baserunner for the 51st game in a row when methods of reaching such as fielder’s choices and errors are included.

Great, thanks for posting; I will sign up to get them myself too for when I am away from the forum.
Hadn't seen the end of the Akron name and missed Kayfus' latest home run.

civ - well worth it for $5 per month

https://nextyearincleveland.substack.com/

I forget what I pay for Baseball America. It's been a ongoing subscription for decades by now.
As a kid it was Baseball Digest
As a teenager and beyond The Sporting News
A few years the Bill James Abstract