Cleveland Sports Forum

Velezquez with only his 2nd and 3rd hits of the season; they were also his 2nd and 3rd homeruns.

Saturday early game, Jose Devers elevated to leadoff his having a wonderful day; He's driven in all 4 Lake County runs with his 3rd homerun, his 2nd double and a pair of singles He's stolen his first 2 bases of the season.

Real solid start by Jackson Humphries: 4 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts.

Guardians First Base Prospect Keeps Turning Heads In Double-A

April 11, 2025

By Andres Chavez

In the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft, the Cleveland Guardians took a rock-solid offensive player.

First baseman C.J. Kayfus has hit in every level he has played in: Single-A, High-A, and Double-A.

Last year, the slugger posted a solid 139 wRC+ and 10 home runs in 67 Double-A games.

However, since he struck out 28.2 percent of the time at the level, the team wanted him to bring that down before considering a call-up to Triple-A.

The minor league season is very, very young still, but Kayfus is off to a fantastic start and not only made huge gains in contact (in the first few games, at least), but he has also retained the power that separates him from the rest.

He had another amazing game on Thursday.

“Cleveland #Guardians 23yr old (1B) prospect C.J. Kayfus reached base 3x tonight for Akron (1-2 2BB) against Altoona. He’s currently hitting .522 over his first six games of the season. 12-23 6R 2(2B) 1(3B) 1HR 7RBI 5BB. AVG .522, OBP .607, SLG .826, OPS 1.433,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.

Cleveland #Guardians 23yr old (1B) prospect C.J. Kayfus reached base 3x tonight for Akron (1-2 2BB) against Altoona.

He's currently hitting .522 over his first six games of the season.

12-23 6R 2(2B) 1(3B) 1HR 7RBI 5BB

AVG .522
OBP .607
SLG .826
OPS 1.433

It’s only six games, sure, but if that’s any indication, he won’t be with the Akron RubberDucks for long.

Triple-A awaits if he can keep some of his contact gains for a few weeks.

Kayfus is highly regarded as a prospect, currently the eighth-best in the organization according to MLB Pipeline.

He won’t keep getting on base 60 percent of the time, no one does it over a full season.

However, the team does hope he can maintain the 14.4 percent strikeout rate he is currently running or something below the 20 percent mark.

He has been the talk of the RubberDucks to open the year, and for good reason.

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Kayfus and Bazzana sat out yesterday, and Burgos failed to homer, but he hit a double and single.
Austin Peterson extended his scoreless streak to 9 innings, he walked none, struck out 4 and allowed 3hits in 5 innings Friday. He's issued no walks yet and fanned 8 in his first two starts. In half season in Akron last year he had 2.88 ERA, in 75 innings walked 15 struck out 72.

Guardians Underrated Prospect Throws Another Gem In Triple-A

April 11, 2025

By Andres Chavez

Most of the attention the Cleveland Guardians’ farm system gets goes to their impressive group of position players.

Travis Bazzana, Jason Chourio, Cooper Ingle, Angel Genao, C.J. Kayfus, and other hitters are highly regarded by prospect evaluators around the league, more so than the Guards’ pitchers.

Maybe the league should really start paying attention to left-hander Parker Messick because Cleveland might have a good one in him.

On Thursday, the southpaw tossed yet another gem in Triple-A to extend his excellent run of form.

“Cleveland #Guardians 24yr old LHP prospect Parker Messick remains unscored upon on the season striking out eight Worcester batters tonight over five scoreless innings for Triple-A Columbus. Line – 5.0(IP) 5H 0R 0ER 0BB 8SO (73 Pitches 50 Strikes). 2025 season: 9.0(IP) 8H 0R 0ER 2BB 10SO 0.00 ERA,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.

Cleveland #Guardians 24yr old LHP prospect Parker Messick remains unscored upon on the season striking out eight Worcester batters tonight over five scoreless innings for Triple-A Columbus.

Line - 5.0(IP) 5H 0R 0ER 0BB 8SO

(73 Pitches 50 Strikes)

2025 season:

- 9.0(IP) 8H 0R 0ER 2BB 10SO 0.00 ERA

Guardians Underrated Prospect Throws Another Gem In Triple-A

Most of the attention the Cleveland Guardians’ farm system gets goes to their impressive group of position players.

Travis Bazzana, Jason Chourio, Cooper Ingle, Angel Genao, C.J. Kayfus, and other hitters are highly regarded by prospect evaluators around the league, more so than the Guards’ pitchers.

Maybe the league should really start paying attention to left-hander Parker Messick because Cleveland might have a good one in him.

On Thursday, the southpaw tossed yet another gem in Triple-A to extend his excellent run of form.

“Cleveland #Guardians 24yr old LHP prospect Parker Messick remains unscored upon on the season striking out eight Worcester batters tonight over five scoreless innings for Triple-A Columbus. Line – 5.0(IP) 5H 0R 0ER 0BB 8SO (73 Pitches 50 Strikes). 2025 season: 9.0(IP) 8H 0R 0ER 2BB 10SO 0.00 ERA,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.

Messick has yet to allow a run in nine innings of work in the hardest minor league level of all.

He doesn’t have huge velocity, sitting in the 92-93 mph range and topping out at 94 mph, but his fantastic changeup is a perfect complement to the heater and he rarely hurts himself by walking people.

On Thursday, Messick generated an incredible 18 whiffs, which is a strong indicator of future success because it means he can easily fool hitters and get swinging strikes.

Of those 18 whiffs, eight came on his changeup, six on the fastball, three on the curveball, and one on his cutter.

Man, this is an impressive start for Parker Messick.

18 whiffs, 8 on his changeup, 6 on the fastball. For only averaging 90-92 and topping out at 94, he had six whiffs and a z-contact % of 69%.

It's cold and hard to hit right now. But also not easy to feel for your pitches too






That right there is why Cleveland is so high on the lefty: he can get whiffs with virtually all his pitches, and that’s a manager’s dream.

Don’t be surprised if you see Messick in Cleveland in a few weeks.

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Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 4/12/25

Next Year in Cleveland - Guardians Farm System Coverage
To: me · Sun, Apr 13 at 7:19 AM

Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 4/12/25
Kafyus and Bazzana's start continue to stand out
Justin Lada
Apr 13



SCOREBOARD
Columbus Clippers at Worcester Red Sox (PPD, snow)
Akron RubberDucks 4, Altoona Curve 3
Lake County Captains 5, West Michigan Whitecaps 4
Kannapolis Cannonballers 16, Lynchburg Hillcats 11 (Game 1)
Lynchburg Hillcats 8, Kannapolis Cannonballers 2
HIGHLIGHTS

CJ Kayfus (LF, Akron): 1-2, 3B, BB, HBP SB - This was an all around interesting performance for Kayfus. He legged out a triple, drew another walk, even stole a base and manned left field. Kayfus was on base three times thanks to the hit, walk and hit by pitch. I’ve heard people who think Kayfus should be able to be “hidden” in left, but of course the question is when that would happen with Steven Kwan in Cleveland, and first base might be taken by Kyle Manzardo. Still, Kayfus is off to an interesting start and it will be interesting to see how his value rises.

Travis Bazzana (2B, Akron): 1-3, 3B, BB, RBI - Bazzana also legged out a triple and drew a walk. He did get beat down the middle by Pirates pitching prospect Anthony Solometo, after working a 2-0 count to start the game. His strikeout rate is still higher than it should be for someone with his contact skills because of his passivity, but that could improve in as he moves up and sees more pitches in the zone. At least it will need to.

Aaron Davenport (SP, Akron): 5IP, H, 5K - Davenport dazzled with 59 pitches in five innings with five strikeouts. The 24 year old is in his second year in Double-A so far and we know the Double-A ball (which is different from the Triple-A/MLB baseball) enhances spin. At some point we’ll need to see how he adjusts to Triple-A, but it’s crowded there right now and it seems like other arms are more a priority.

Jose Devers (SS, Lake County): 4-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB - There’s been some questions about Jose Devers occupying such high spots in the Captains lineup, so of course he comes up with two extra base hits including a homer. Devers can hit the ball hard on occasion when he makes contact and there’s defensive skills. He shows flashes on both sides of the ball with big days like this. He’ll just need to find more consistency.

Jackson Humphries (SP, Lake County): 4IP, H, BB, 6K - Humphries rebounded from a mixed start control-wise in his first outing to show better control in this one. He stayed around 92-93 and showed his big breaking ball.

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Jogly Garcia (SP, Lynchburg): 4IP, 2H, ER, BB, 9K - The 21 year old right hander had seven outings in Lynchburg last year that were…a struggle to say the least. This year he’s off to a much better start.

Tommy Hawke (LF, Lynchburg): 3-4, 3 SB, BB - Four times on base is an impressive feat even in a game where it was all offense and no pitching of game 1 of the Kannapolis/Lynchburg double-header. A bit surprising that Hawke is repeating Single-A given his college environment (Wake Forest) but Cleveland wants its players it values to get consistent playing time to work on the things they need to improve on and that’s where Hawke is at right now.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

Jonah Advincula (LF, Lake County): 2-4, SB - Advincula has good defensive skills and contact skills, as well as speed. The bat might be a little light overall but he’s had some good moments in High-A last year and so far this year.

Jaison Chourio (CF, Lake County): 1-4, BB, CS - It’s nice to see Chourio get on base twice as he’s struggled to find success early in the season so far. It’s definitely the first time he’s ever had to play in frigid temps coming from Venezuela, then playing in the Dominican, Arizona and then Virginia last year. So hopefully as the weather heats up, Chourio’s bat will too. He chased a little more than I would have liked to see in my look at him on Friday.

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Yakiel Mijares (3B, Lynchburg): 2-3, 2 RBI - There haven’t been tons of great offensive performances in Lynchburg to start his year but Mijares has been one of the few bright spots, hitting over .300 for now.

Jose Pirela (RF, Lynchburg): 1-4, 3B, 3 RBI, 2K - I liked Pirela’s data a few years in complex ball (good power, K%/BB%, pull/FB%) but it didn’t carry a ton last year, which shows how unreliable data is at those levels. He’s not off to a great start this year but I am curious to see if the skills are there.

Yanki Jean-Baptiste (1B, Lynchburg): 1-3, 2 RBI, 2BB - Baptiste was thought to have a good hit tool when he signed (at least contact skills, which doesn’t always mean good hit, because impact and approach all factor in) and I’m looking to see Baptiste improve that with more performances like this one.

Logan McGuire (RP, Lynchburg): IP, 8H, 11ER, BB, K - McGuire makes the ‘notable Performances’ for the wrong reason. After Rafe Schlesinger started and allowed three hits and two walks in the fourth inning without getting an out, a pair of errors befouled McGuire in trying to finish the fourth inning. McGuire came out for the fifth and allowed eight hits and a walk, through at least two of those hits might have been errors or just poor defensive skills on some batted balls, so it’s not all McGuire. And that’s something you have to be careful about in the minors with pitchers is that sometimes defense impacts their stats and line as it could in the minors, but we look at lines in the minors as something that shows actual player talent, when there are other factors that influence outcomes and stats. This is one of those cases for McGuire. He certainly didn’t pitch great, but his line being out of hand is hurt by errors and defense as well.

Welbyn Francisca (SS, Lynchburg): 2-4, RBI - Francisca has seen more positive results in recent days which isn’t unexpected as the talent is too good not to succeed at this level. It’s the upper levels we’ll see where his approach succeeds or not.

Jeffrey Mercedes (2B, Lynchburg): 2-3, 2 RBI, SB - The 20 year old switch hitting infielder is also off to a good start so far this year though he’s played just four games so far above the complex levels after three years.

Donovan Zsak (RP, Lynchburg): IP, BB, K - Zsak had a much better outing here after things went disasterous last time out.

Messick in AAA, Peterson in AA have been very impressive in their first couple of starts. Middle or back of the rotation ceilings, but starting depth is vital

Sunday afternoon games:

Clippers, now 9-4 after an 8-5 loss.
On the mound, Velazquez 4 innings 3 runs 4 walks 3 hits
Webb 3 innngs 4 runs 5 hits 1 walk
Walters 1 inning, 1 run 2 hits 1 walk 2 strikeouts

At bat: Brito 2nd HR and sac fly for 2 rbi. Huff 2 hits, 261; Brennan 2 hits, 315; JRod 1-4 with 2K; that makes him 2-12 with 8 strikeouts--- aiming to be DFA'd?
Wilson 3 walks

Akron [7-2 record] with another 13-1 win,
Bazzana 3B, single, 2 walks [344/1118]. Kayfus triple, 2 singles [516/1476]; Mooney double triple, single, 2 steals; Frias single, double, homer; Lampe 2 singles 2 walks
Magnus Ellerts in relief: 2 innings, 6K, 2 hits, no runs or walks.

Lake County [6-3 record] after an 8-4 win.
Velazquez with his 4th homer and his first single of the year; C Tincher 3 hits; C Cozart 2 hits; OF Gonzalez 2 hits

Lynchburg about ready to slip to 4-5, trailing in the 9th inning. C Bennett Thompson 2 hits [400/1038]; Francisca 2 walks [160/523]
Zibin 2 1/3 3 runs 3 walks 2 hits 2 strikeouts

FWIW, the 4 minor league teams are a combined 26-14 after a couple weeks of success.

Stats leaders:
Burgos still tops the EL with 4 homers 12 RBI and 897 SLG and second to CJ with a 1329 OPS
Kayfus still tops the EL with his 516 average; 16 hits; and with 605 OnBase%; and his 1476 OPS; and 2nd with 871 SLG
Bazzana leads with 9 runs scored
Bazzana and Kayfus are the only 2 with 3 triples

Velazquez' 4 homers lead the Midwest League

Hawke tied for carolina League lead with 8 runs; second with 8 steals;

Just watched the Ducks game free on MiLB. Very impressive performance today.