Gave you a day off! I got on early too, after my Duolingo bonus points period ended

Allard and Dion for the Clippers in the doubleheader; a pair of lefties
Boone LHP for Akron this evening
Hartle LHP for Lake County
Melkis Hernandez LHP for Lynchburg

I do not think that the large number of lefty starters throughout the system is purely random. Although I haven't seen any comments from the front office or from scouts and experts.

BA list of most talented Minor League teams doesn't include any of ours; if Genao were not hurt we'd have a large number of top prospects in Akron: Bazzana, Genao, Ingle, Kayfus. But the pitching is not particularly exciting.

Not such a great day on the farm Wednesday.

Columbus split a pair, 4-5 and 6-5.

in game one, Brennan singled and doubled; Halpin singled twice; Wilson doubled twice and singled [is he this year's Schneemann? a from nowhere hitting 406 1281 OPS-- not quite a no one, a former first round draft choice who has vastly underperformed and came in the minor league Rule ]
Dion 5 innings, 2 runs on 7 hits, no walks, 5 K.
Muchinski 3 walks 3 hits 1 run 1 inning 3 k.

in game two, Brennan grand slam made the difference. He also singled.
Wilson homered, his 3rd.
For Brito watches he went 0-3 with a walk, hitting 313, 833 OPS
Allard 3 1/3 5 runs on 5 hits. Walters 1 scoreless inning with a walk and 2 strikeouts

Big day for Akron bats, quiet day for LC and LYN bats.

Kayfus with a great game: homer, double, two singles 3 rbi. Hitting 524, 1440 ops
Ingle homer and single and walk 294/956
Bazzana 1-6, a triple, 364/1076
Fox 2 singles and a walk
Lipscomb double single 3 walks

Captains lost by the same 13-1 score that the Rubberducks won by
Chourio a single and walk
Velazquez 0-4 hittin 059
Josh Hartle 3 1/3 4 runs 3 earned 3 walks 3 hits

Hillcats lost 5-1 4 hits. Only one starter is hitting over 200.

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Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 4/9/25
Kayfus Collects Four Hits in Slugfest at Akron
Matthew Kennell
Apr 10






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Scoreboard:
Triple-A: Columbus Clippers 6, Worcester Red Sox 5 (G1 - F/7) - Statcast
Triple-A: Worcester Red Sox 5, Columbus Clippers 4 (G2 - F/7) - Statcast
Double-A: Akron RubberDucks 13, Altoona Curve 1
High-A: West Michigan Whitecaps 13, Lake County Captains 1
Single-A: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5, Lynchburg Hillcats 1
Highlights:

Will Brennan (LF, Columbus - G1): 2-for-5, R, HR, 4 RBIs - Brennan had three balls hit at 99 mph or higher off the bat, including a grand slam to straight away centerfield to give Columbus the lead in the seventh and the eventual win. It shifted the win percentage 74.1 points and took the score from 5-2 to 6-5. For Brennan, it is his first homerun of the 2025 season as he deposited a high fastball right back to where it came from.

Will Wilson (3B, Columbus - G2): 3-for-4, R, 2 2Bs, 3 RBIs, GIDP - After hitting a homerun in game one of the day, Wilson answered the bell for a three-hit performance in game two. He hit an additional two extra-base hits with a pair of doubles and he drove in three of the team’s four runs. Wilson now has five extra-base hits (two homeruns, three doubles) in his last five games played.

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CJ Kayfus (1B, Akron): 4-for-5, 3 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs, DP - Kayfus took full advantage of a poor pitching night for Altoona and was a triple away from hitting for the cycle. He singled in the first, slammed a two-run homerun in the second and drove in a run with a double in the fourth to give him three of the four needed hit types less than halfway through the rain-soaked contest. Three RBIs is the most on the team for the game. His .524 batting average (11-for-21) is far away the best mark for Akron in the young season.

Cooper Ingle (C, Akron): 2-for-4, 3 R, 2B, HR, RBI, BB - Ingle helped contribute to an offense that was missing its red-hot power bat in Jorge Burgos with a homerun and a double, his first longball of 2025. Ingle reached base a third time via a walk, one of seven provided on the evening by the Curve. He also threw out the lone runner trying to take second in the game from behind the dish.

Austin Aldeano (RP, Lynchburg): H (1), 2.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 5 Ks - The 20-year-old was roughed up in his first appearance in affiliate ball but rebounded well on Wednesday versus Kannapolis. Aldeano faced seven batters and retired five of them on strikes. He was able to keep the ball out of the air after allowing two homeruns with an infield single and a popup as the only contact made.
Notable Performances:

Tanner Burns (RP, Columbus - G1): W (2-0), 2.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BBs, K - Burns was rock solid and entered the game with a massive deficit and was then called upon to stay out there and hold a one-run lead. He ended the game with a 1-2-3 seventh with a pair of K’s to secure the win in game one for the Clippers.

Will Dion (SP, Columbus - G2): 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BBs, 5 Ks, WP - The southpaw peppered the strike zone (74 pitches, 54 strikes) to remain in the game despite surrendering a handful of hits. He left the game in line for the win and struck out five, a big bounce back performance after he failed to get out of the first in his other 2025 appearance.

Guy Lipscomb (LF, Akron): 2-for-2, 2 R, 2B, 3 BBs, SB - Lipscomb had a multi-hit game and did not get out in his five plate appearances. He was able to use his patience to both lead off innings and draw walks with runners in scoring position.

Jake Fox (CF, Akron): 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB, GIDP - Fox was credited with a multi-hit game as well and reached base on a walk to add on to the incredible day at the plate for the RubberDucks. He was able to do a little bit of everything with quality defense as well.

Tyresse Turner (2B, Akron): 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBIs, E4T - Turner was able to keep the line moving from the bottom portion of the order and capped off a five-run fourth inning with a two-run double to put the game out of reach.

Rodney Boone (SP, Akron): 3.1 IP, 4 H, R, 2 BBs, 7 Ks - Boone recorded ten outs for Akron and seven of those were sat down on strikes. The potent offense helped keep the 2025 debut for the UC Santa Barbera product from being sweaty.

Juan Benjamin (3B, Lake County): 1-for-3, 2B, RBI - An RBI double off the bat of Benjamin took the zero off the scoreboard for the Captains and was the lone extra-base hit.

2025 Cleveland Guardians Pitcher Prospect Scouting Report: #19 LHP Michael Kennedy

Next Year in Cleveland - Guardians Farm System Coverage
To: me · Wed, Apr 9 at 1:43 PM
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2025 Cleveland Guardians Pitcher Prospect Scouting Report: #19 LHP Michael Kennedy
Will Kennedy have enough of a fastball to compete or will he go the way of Logan Allen?
Justin Lada
Apr 9






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Bio

Age (2025 season): 20

Acquired: Trade (2024, PIT)

2024 Level: Single-A/High-A

Height: 6’1

Weight: 205

Throws: Left

2025 Scouting Grades

Fastball: 45

Slider: 55

Changeup: 50

Command: 50

Overall: 45

Risk: Moderate

ETA: 2027

First impression

Slightly undersized, athletic lefty. Sort of cross-body delivery with a low release height. Simple delivery. Sort of a high school pick version of Logan Allen with a little more funk.
What Makes Kennedy Fun

This is typically the kind of pitcher Cleveland excels with. He has an athletic build and delivery, despite being a bit undersized. That’s never scared Cleveland really. They work with pitches with all builds. But Kennedy’s cross body, sling type delivery is deceptive, and the fact that he has a low release height also makes his fastball carry differently to hitters in the zone. He also has good extension on his delivery, which helps a mediocre fastball velocity wise, play a bit better, especially up in the zone. His slider has some wide sweep and good vertical break at the end. The changeup isn’t far off with some tumble and arm side run to it. If Cleveland can work with him on adding some sustainable velocity, the upside gets even more interesting.

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What Could Hold Kennedy Back

We see what is going on with Logan Allen right now, and the same kind of concern with Kennedy. There’s still a minimum threshold for velocity most pitchers have to reach to find a certain level of success. Kennedy has the slider, the athleticism and some unique metrics on this fastball, but he’ll need to either get the lower band of his velocity up or his current rate of command will need to transcend as he moves up levels. Despite his athleticism, size is a concern for Kennedy in terms of durability.
Key Metric

5.3% - Kennedy has a great walk rate in Single-A, the kind of level of command is what he’ll need going forward if his fastball velocity stays the same and he doesn’t add any bulk to what is pretty much a maxed out build.
Intangibles

Kennedy was an LSU commit after 2022 and made it to High-A briefly in 2024. Seems like a good athlete and competitor.
Future

It feels like Kennedy is on a similar path as Logan Allen if he was drafted in high school. He’ll start in High-A Lake County in 2025 with a shot to get to Double-A, but I expect he’ll be in Lake County through at least the first half. He tracks as a potential up and down starter/long relief option with upside ahead of him.
Role/Risk

45/Moderate - Back of the rotation depth/middle relief option

I got to this first today; so read the good stuff on Messick, Kayfus, Doughty, among others

Scoreboard
Triple-A: Columbus Clippers 2, Worcester Red Sox 1
Double-A: Altoona Curve 2, Akron RubberDucks 0
High-A: West Michigan Whitecaps 11, Lake County Captains 2 F/5
Highlights

Parker Messick (SP, Columbus): 5IP, 5H, 8K - Messick tossed 73 pitches over five innings, so he could have gone deeper if Cleveland wanted to push him into the sixth inning, but continue to watch his pitch count. Much more efficient from Messick, and he got 18 whiffs in this one, six on the fastball (90-94, t94) and eight on his changeup. More impressively, this lineup only had a 69% zone-contact% against his fastball, so at 90-92, 94, he dominated with it, along with his changeup. We’ve seen some Guardians pitching prospects struggle to adjust to Triple-A, using the MLB ball for the first time (Double-A and below use a different ball for some reason that I’ve never heard back about). But Messick has had no adjustment issues and continues to rise as a prospect.



Petey Halpin (Columbus, CF): 1-3, HR, BB, SB - Halpin is off to a solid start so far in Columbus and grabs himself his first homer and a steal in the same game. He had a good start in Akron previously too and Cleveland admitted they might have pushed him aggressively at Double-A, which is why he repeated the level. It’s nice to see him do some positive things at Triple-A in his first month. He did also have a fielding error, for what it’s worth.

Alfonsin Rosario (CF, Lake County): 1-1, HR, RBI, 2BB - Rosario notched his first home run as a Guardians prospect and worked some walks while playing in center. He has some tools that could be exciting and I’m excited to get my first in-person look at him tonight.

Luis Merejo (DH, Lynchburg): 2-3, HR, RBI, 2 BB - Power and more walks. We like to see that from the 18 year old Merejo, who has had a very slow start so far. This would be a nice step in the right direction for a guy that has real power, is young and has some decent contact/patience markers but does need some maturity and refinement (which is very reasonable for his age!).

Braylon Doughty (SP, Lynchburg): 4IP, 3H, ER, BB, 4K - 60 pitches in four innings for the 18 year old Doughty, but impressive again in his second start in the pros. He battled back after a tough first inning in his first pro start and fanned plenty of batters and he was much more of this one, throwing 43 of 60 pitches for strikes (71%!). The maturity and advanced nature of Doughty here is exciting so far and if things stay on track here, I think there’s a chance we see him in Lake County some time in 2025.
Notable Performances

Zak Kent (RP, Columbus): 2IP, 4K - A most impressive outing from Kent, who averaged 93-96 with his fastball and had seven whiffs total across his two innings. Kent spins the ball at a high rate and has now seen his velocity creep back up here. He previously had better velo in Texas where he was a well thought of prospect, then suffered some injuries. Last year he was often 90-92 and out of the pen with his fastball velo back up and his high spin off peed arsenal, he’s worth watching as an under the radar bullpen option with Nic Enright and Franco Aleman down.

Juan Brito (2B, Columbus): 1-3, BB, SB - Brito already has four steals this year, not known as much of a runner. He was on base two times in this one. It’s early but Gabriel Arias has kind of slowed down and Brito works counts and walks and is a switch hitter, so he'd fit into the Guardians lineup pretty well here soon..

CJ Kayfus (DH, Akron): 1-2, 2BB - No extra base hits in this one for Kayfus, but he did a good job working two walks and still finding a hit as well. He’s kept his strong start up and you want to see another hitter in this organization that keeps drawing walks when he’s not getting as many hits. That seems important to this organization right now.

Esteban Gonzalez (RF, Lake County): 2-2, SB - Nothing too impressive here. Two singles for Gonzalez who is a bit older and was OK at Lynchburg last year, then not as good at Lake County. He’s off to a decent start here and we’ll see what’s behind that and if that sticks this year. He can run and play some outfield well, so that’s a good base to start with.

Matt Wilkinson (SP, Lake County): 3IP, 4H, 3ER, 3BB, 5K - Probably the least efficient start of Tugboat’s career. Not off to as fast a start as he was a year ago despite his success. It’s also not lost on me that Gavin Williams (Big Rig) and Tugboat started on the same day, plus Parker Messick (no nickname for that one yet), but that’s all kind of fun in my mind.

Jeffrey Mercedes (3B, Lynchburg): 3-4, RBI - 20 year old Mercedes has four hits in two games in his first time outside of complex leagues (a year in the DSL and two in the ACL).

On the mound today:
Nikhazy 4.15 ERA in 2 starts
Peterson 0.00 in his first 4 inning start
DeLucia 12.00 after his first 3 inning start
Jogly Garcia 0.00 after his first 3 innings in relief this year

first half dozen games Akron's offense is leading the Eastern League

Home Runs Burgos leads with 4, no one with 3; 3 guys with 2.
RBI Burgos leads with 10 Kayfus 3rd with 7
Hits Kayfus leads with 12; Bazzana is 2nd with 8
Walks Lampe tied for the lead with 6
Avg Kayfus leads at 522; Bazzana 9th at 320
OnBase Kayfus leads with 607
SLG Burgos on top with 1053; Kayfus 3rd with 826; Ingle with 588
OPS: Burgos 1488 on top; Kayfus 1433 follows; Bazzana 9th with 974

International League
Will Wilson is second in OPS with 1198; is 3rd in SLG; 6th in Onbase; 5th in batting average; tied with a bunch of guys for 2nd with 3 homers;
Angel Martinez 10th in Avg at 344; tied with a few for 2nd with 6 doubles
Brito tied with a few with 4 doubles

Others who populate the top 10 in the Intl Lg include Greg Allen, Ben Gamel and Will Benson, all former with CLE, all career 4A OFs. I wonder if Nolan Jones will be joining that demographic? and/or Brennan?

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Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 4/11/25
Ralphy Velazquez finally finds results to back up process
Arthur Kinney
Apr 12






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SCOREBOARD
Columbus Clippers 9, Worcester Red Sox 2 - Statcast
Altoona Curve 8, Akron RubberDucks 1
Lake County Captains 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 3
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers at Lynchburg Hillcats - PPD (Rain)
HIGHLIGHTS

Will Brennan (LF, Columbus): 4-5, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 1 SB - After an 0-for-3 Thursday, Brennan resumed normal service and continued to make his case for a speedy return to the Big Club. Will’s offensive masterpiece, which included a 108.3 MPH double in the sixth inning, was his fourth multi-hit game in his last five and continued a dominant week so far in Worcester, Mass. (combined 8-for-17 with five runs scored, seven driven in, and four extra-base hits (three doubles and Tuesday’s grand slam).

Juan Brito (2B, Columbus): 2-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 CS - Brito turned in a performance that would have been THE highlight of many nights in the org but was merely one of many in the Clippers’ trouncing of the WooSox. The highlight of Juan’s evening came in the fifth, when he sent his first round-tripper of the season 397 feet over the center field wall at 102.5 MPH to extend the Columbus lead to 5-0.

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Kody Huff (DH, Columbus): 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB - Huff rounded out the trio of multi-hit, multi-RBI performances for the Clip Show with a pair of hits that included a 109.9 MPH single in the second that drove in the game’s opening tally and ultimately topped Columbus’ statcast leaderboard for the game.

Doug Nikhazy (SP, Columbus): W (1-0), 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 earned), 1 BB, 8 K - As dominant as Brennan was at the plate, Nikhazy was on the mound. Despite his fastball topping out at 93 (and occasionally sinking into the 80s), Nikhazy used his four-pitch arsenal to full effect, getting whiffs on all of them (5 on changeups, 4 on sliders, 2 each on four-seamers and curveballs - the latter his most sparingly used pitch on Friday night).

Austin Peterson (SP, Akron): ND, 5 IP, 3 H, 4 K - While you wouldn’t know it from looking at the final score, the first half of the game saw most of the momentum belonging to the Mallards of Main Street. A large part of that was the dominant start provided by Peterson, who needed only 63 pitches (44 of them strikes) to dispatch the Curve five times. This performance actually represented something of a regression for Austin, who allowed only one hit in four frames in his season debut last Saturday. Most impressively, he has struck out eight batters while walking none so far this season. This is not surprising, however, as he posted a combined 261:48 (5.44) K:BB ratio over his first two professional seasons, including 72:15 (4.80) in 75 Double-A innings last season.

Ralphy Velazquez (1B, Lake County): 2-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI - Velazquez’s start to the 2025 campaign can certainly be described as feast-or-famine but the feasts have been veritable banquets (He is 3-for-25 with three homers. He’s been hitting the ball hard and finally found results in this one with homers of 100 and 99 off the bat.

Christian Knapczyk (SS, Lake County): 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB - While his statline was not as flashy as Velazquez’s, Knapczyk’s performance was similar in that it was a big night from a hitter who had struggled to start the season (.133/.316/.133 - the middle number thanks to a trio of walks - entering Friday).

Michael Kennedy (SP, Lake County): ND, 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 WP, 4 K - Kennedy kept the impressive starting pitching in the Guardians org going with a quartet of shutout frames that represented a significant improvement from his Guardians organizational debut last Saturday (2 ER on 2 H and 3 BB with 3 K in 3 IP).
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

Micah Pries (1B, Columbus): 1-5, 1 R, 1 3B - After a hitless return from a season-opening IL stint on Thursday as a DH, Pries marked his return to playing in the field by opening his base hit account with a 104.2 MPH line drive triple to center to lead off the second and subsequently scoring on Huff’s aforementioned single.

Bradley Hanner (RP, Columbus): 1 IP, perfect, 2 K - Hanner remains unscored upon in 3.2 April innings after striking out a pair in a perfect sixth. The punchouts (both of the swinging variety) could not have come on more different pitches. Bradley got the first out by whiffing Worcester 3B Vaughn Grissom on a 78.6 MPH sweeper with four full feet of drops and just over two feet (25 inches) of break - both game highs for Hanner - while he got RF Trayce Thompson to end the inning with a 92.3 MPH fastball.

Andrew Walters (RP, Columbus): 1 IP, perfect, 3 K - Walters followed by striking out all three WooSox he faced in the seventh. He got five whiffs on only 18 pitches, three of them coming from his mid-90s fastball and the other two from his mid-80s slider. Of note, all three at-bats ended on four-seamers (two whiffs and an inning-ending called strike). This outing continued a dominant start to the 2025 campaign for Andrew, who has allowed only one hit and four walks (1.07 WHIP) while striking out nine in 4.2 combined shutout innings.

Jorge Burgos (DH, Akron): 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K - Burgos played a key role in the RubberDucks’ early-game success with a pair of hits, including Akron’s only extra-base hit of the contest.

Tyresse Turner (1B, Akron): 2-4, 1 R, 1 K - Turner also hit well early in last night’s ballgame, scoring the only RubberDuck run and picking up the team’s only stolen base.

Kyle Dernedde (2B, Akron): 2-4, 1 K - Dernedde wrapped up the trifecta of two-hit performances with a pair of late game singles that provided a welcome change of pace for those waiting for the fireworks on a frigid night at the Corner of State and Main.

Jaison Chourio (CF, Lake County): 2-5, 1 R, 2 K - Chourio rebounded from his first game of the season without a productive plate appearance on Thursday with his first multi-hit performance of the 2025 campaign.

Guardians Infielder Is Tearing Up Triple-A Pitching

April 11, 2025

By Andres Chavez

Will Wilson, a 26-year-old infielder who joined the Cleveland Guardians organization in a low-cost move this past winter, is determined to show the world he can be a late bloomer.

A former first-round draft pick, Wilson enjoyed a nice spring and is off to a solid start in Triple-A Columbus.

Can the Guardians help him get his career back on track?

Well, no one knows for sure, but so far, the experiment is going well.

“Cleveland #Guardians INF Will Wilson’s current Triple-A International League rankings. 2) wRC+ .227, 2) OPS 1.198, 2) RBI 11, 3) Hits 14, 3) SLG .722, 3) ISO .333, 4) HR 3, 5) AVG .389, 6) OBP .476,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.

Cleveland #Guardians INF Will Wilson's current Triple-A International League rankings.

2) wRC+ .227
2) OPS 1.198
2) RBI 11
3) Hits 14
3) SLG .722
3) ISO .333
4) HR 3
5) AVG .389
6) OBP .476
3:34 PM · Apr 11, 2025

Wilson is the definition of a low-risk, potentially high-reward acquisition.

If he keeps mashing in Triple-A, he might have a chance to receive that call soon.

The 2025 numbers say he deserves to be considered, but he has a long way to go.

After all, he hasn’t been an above-average hitter in the minor leagues since 2022, and if we are talking about numbers, those can’t be ignored either.

Cleveland is trying to see if there is something to work with here, and so far, there could be something.

Wilson, a middle infielder, plays in one of the least stable positions in the Guardians organization.

Fans have soured on shortstop Brayan Rocchio after his slow start, and some of them are also disappointed in the team’s second base production.

There might be an avenue for Wilson to win some playing time for the big league club if he can keep up the solid performance.

The odds are against him, but we have seen stranger things before.

The Cleveland Guardians selected infielder Will Wilson from the San Francisco Giants in the Rule 5 Draft, Triple-A phase .

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