Cleveland Sports Forum

15 runs on 22 hits for Columbus, led by:

JRod double and 3 singles
Noel triple and 2 singles walk
Straw 3 singles walk
Valera 2 singles double 2 walks sac fly 3 rbi
Brito 2 singles
Tena 2 singles
Lavastida 2 doubles single 3 rbi
A Martinez single homer walk
Cairo AAA debut a single and 2 rbi

Two shutout innings for Gavin Williams followed by a shaky third inning; I guess most important he was up to 46 pitches.

BA makes some signficant updates to its Top 100 prospect list. Where our guys now stand:

No. 31, Chase The Toe DeLauter.
Seems pretty optimistic to me for a player who only rarely gets on the field. After his third injury to his left foot in 3 years shut him down 62 at bats into the season, he returned last week, and cleverly ran into a fence injuring a toe on his other foot and hasn't returned.
He is a great spring training hitter and probably will do the same in the majors, too, if he happens to sustain two working fee.

No. 61 Kyle Manzardo

No. 65 Angel Genao
Major move upward for Genao who also just moved upward to High A Lake County. Rated: Hit 60 Power 50 Filed 55 Arm 60 Run 50
"Has shown a nice combination of contact and swing decisions" "Plays all over the IF but primarily plays SS where he's an average defender"

No. 82 Jaison Chourio
Crawled unto the most recent list at 100, moves up some more
"Has made a name for himself in 2024. He's an outstanding contact hitter with outstanding approach and above average exit velocities. He's a well rounded and projectable hitter with the ability to play all 3 outfield positions. Hit 55 Power 45 Field 55 Arm 50 Run 60

No. 84 Ralphy Velazquez; the last of the Lynchburg Three [well only 2 of them still at that level]
2024 No. 1 pick debuts on the top 100. "Is among the best pure hitters in the minors. Blessed with plus bat speed and feet to hit, Velazquez overcomes a lack of defensive value with a bat that projects for plus contact and power Hit 55 Power 60 Run 30 Field 45 Arm 60

That's not a bad showing with 5 on a list of 100 with the average team getting 3.
No pitchers which is certainly unusual for Cleveland. And the only one currently in the organization with potential to ascend that high is Alex Clemmey, very hard throwing very inconsistent teen ager pitching in Lake County this summer, which actually is a step higher than where most high school pitchers start

Of course there's always Daniel Espino, but there's also always Brady Aiken

And to add to the list of injured pitchers Justin Campbell was our no. 2 pick in 2022 and he hasn't pitched yet as a pro

Yes, the top pick in the first round will likely be one of those great college hitters.
But I'd think they'll go for more pitchers the rest of the way. Last year was almost all position players and many of them are off to very nice starts

Joey Cantillo made his post-injury first appearance of the season.
2 1/3 innings 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks and 3 strikeouts
Tyler Beede allowed 5 runs in 3 inings; his ERA of 10.43 is a bit higher than Curry's
Walters coninues to find AAA tougher than AA. no runs in an inning, but 2 walks, a hit and no strikeotus.

JRod wants back to Cleveland: 2 doubles 2 rbi
Noel wants his first trip to the CLE double and walk
Brito, too, doubled and singled
Valera needs to prove a lot more but he also doubled in 4 ab
Tena singled and walked

Tonight:

Ross Carver with his first 2024 start for Akron. Tyler Messick working for Lake County. Alex Clemmey for Lynchburg.
No lineups posted for the Rubberducks although gametime is in 25 minutes. Siri says it's not going to rain in Portland ME so I guess they'll be playing

Angel Genao, SS, Guardians: Genao led the Carolina League with 61 hits and 99 total bases while batting .341/.383/.553 with six home runs and 12 stolen bases in 44 games. That performance earned him a promotion from Low-A Lynchburg to High-A Lake County. A torn meniscus in his knee limited Genao with Lynchburg last season, but this year the switch-hitter has emerged as a Top 100 Prospect, one who trailed only the Phillies’ Aidan Miller among 20U shortstops in key measures such as OPS, wRC+ and isolated slugging.

Akron is out to a 5-0 lead after 4. Planez 8th homer Halpin 2 run single Kayfus walk Lampe 2 singles Furman hitless in AA, but he started slowly last year after promotion too
Ross Carver spot start, 3 scoreless innings
DeLauter neither in the lineup nor on the IL. I assume he'll be ready "any day"

Lake County just underway; Lynchburg rained out. Both of those Class A teams have scheduled doubleheaders tomorrow.
Davenport scheduled tomorrow in Akron: ERA 1.87 Wilkinson scheduled for one of the Captains games. 16 strikeouts 1 walk 5 runs in his first 10 High A innings.

CJ Kayfus may be a real hitter. Already in AA less than a year after he was drafted. In his 2nd game with Akron he hit a grandslam homer and walked.
His RBI totals are terrific: 7 in his first 2 games with Akron; 44 total for the year in 161 AB. In his limited career 63 RBI in 220 AB. If that was his hit total he'd have a reasonable batting avg of 286.

Furman hitless in his first 2 AA games
Genao hitless in his first High A game

Another big game for Kayfus this morning. This time his 3 hits included a triple and 2 singles and an RBI. Season OPS for Lake County and Akron is 1072

Interesting comparison of 3rd round draftees ; along with the 2023 pick Kayfus
Also on Akron is the 2022 3rd round draft pick Joe Lampe big game today with 3 hits and 4 rbi. But his career is going nowhere; career line 237/333/338/671

Aaron Davenport 5 innings 2 runs on 2 hits. 6 K ERA 2.02

Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 6/5/24

MATTHEW KENNELL AND ARTHUR KINNEY

JUN 6


Scoreboard:

Triple-A: Indianapolis Indians 11, Columbus Clippers 6
Double-A: Akron RubberDucks 9, Portland Sea Dogs 1
High-A: Beloit Sky Carp 4, Lake County Captains 3
Single-A: Lynchburg Hillcats vs Delmarva Shorebirds PPD (rain); Make up on June 6
Arizona Complex League: ACL Giants 8, ACL Guardians 2 (7 innings - scheduled)

Highlights:

LF Johnathan Rodriguez (Columbus): 2-for-4, R, 2 2Bs, RBI, SF, E7F - In his second game back in a Clippers uniform, Rodriguez has six hits and three of them for extra bases. He delivered an RBI single in the first thanks to his double to left and he would add another run on a sacrifice fly in the third. Errors were a problem throughout the game for the Clippers, including a miscue on a routine play in the outfield, but he has produced at the plate to counter.

2B Juan Brito (Columbus): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, E4F - The 22-year-old Brito reached base three times in the loss on Wednesday afternoon with a single, double and walk. Additionally, he had an unlucky groundout hit at 104 mph off the bat. It is his fourth multi-hit game in the month of June already and he has a slash line of .368/.429/.474 since turning the page on the calendar.

1B CJ Kayfus (Akron): 1-for-3, R, HR, 4 RBIs, BB, HBP, CS - Make it seven RBIs since joining the Akron roster with his grand slam to put the game out of reach entirely. It is his first homerun in Double-A and eighth overall in 2024 after a pair of doubles yesterday in Portland. He reached base three times overall with a walk and hit by pitch as well.

RF Alexfri Planez (Akron): 1-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBIs, BB - Planez would hit a homerun himself, his eighth of the year and a two-run shot to put Akron in front 3-0. He has been on quite the power surge with four homeruns in his last seven games played and three in the month of June. He has hits in six of his last seven games, however the one game in between, he entered as a defensive replacement late in the contest.

SP Ross Carver (Akron): 3.0 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 Ks - Carver made his first start of the season as the RubberDucks stretched him out for a season-high 3.0 innings of work. After a 1-2-3 first inning, he worked around a leadoff single int he second and a walk in the third to keep the zero on the board through 41 pitches (26 strikes).

SP Austin Peterson (Lake County): 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, ER, 3 BBs, 8 Ks, PO, HBP - Peterson now has 10 starts out of 11 this season where he has gone at least five innings and allowed three or fewer runs. He now has 71 punchouts on the year after adding eight to his ledger on Wednesday. After yielding an unearned run in the first, he kept his composure and made it through five with the lead. He would exit with a tie ballgame after allowing a run in the sixth.

LF Jonah Advincula (Lake County): 2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 2 RBIs - The 23-year-old did it all for the Captains with a pair of extra-base hits. His triple in the second put Lake County in front 2-1 and he would give the team the lead once more with a groundout in the seventh, but they would not be able to stay in front. The highlight of the game for him came in the third when he robbed a homerun on the defensive side of the ball.

RF Guy Lipscomb (Lake County): 3-for-4, 2 R, 3B, CS - A three-hit day for Lipscomb as he put himself on base ahead of Advincula for two of the team’s three runs. The 23-year-old missed the first few games of the month of June, but kick started the new month with a bang on Wednesday to stay at a .341 average and a .901 OPS.

Notable Performances:

1B Micah Pries (Columbus): 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI - Pries’ fifth homerun of 2024 was a no doubt shot - the hardest hit ball of the day at 108.8 mph off the bat and 377 feet into deep right.

CF Lorenzo Cedrola (Columbus): 2-for-4, SB, E8T - A multi-hit day credited to the Venezuelan and despite the error, had some good defensive plays on a gusty day in downtown Indianapolis.

DH Jhonkensy Noel (Columbus): 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB - Noel delivered his 45th RBI of the season on a first inning groundout, good for second in the International League and had an extra-base hit with a two-out double in the third.

SS Jose Tena (Columbus): 1-for-4, R, 2B, BB, CS - One hit for the left-handed hitting Tena, a double that resulted in a run scored in the ninth.

RF George Valera (Columbus): 1-for-4, 2B, RBI - Valera capped a three-run top of the first with an RBI double and now has an extra-base hit in each of the last three games. He had two of the top five hardest hit balls of the game.

RP Jaime Arias (Akron): W (2-1), 3.2 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 3 Ks - The bulk of the game belonged to Arias between the three pitchers as he went nearly four innings. He struck out two in his first inning on the bump and settled back in after allowing a solo homerun followed by a double and walk in the sixth to prevent further damage.

RP Bradley Hanner (Akron): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2 Ks - The only damage for Hanner was a walk, but he would go on to retire the final seven batters he faced and left his inherited runner stranded. It is his fourth straight scoreless appearance out of the RubberDucks bullpen.

LF Joe Lampe (Akron): 3-for-4, 3 R, 2B, SB - Lampe got on base often and made his opponents pay every time with three runs scored. He also swiped second and had a double, his 11th in 2024. This is his first three-hit game since August 27 of last season.

CF Petey Halpin (Akron): 1-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBIs, BB - Halpin’s two-out, two-run single pushed the lead out to 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning.

DH Milan Tolentino (Akron): 1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BBs, PO - Tolentino reached base three times and came around to score twice.

C Cooper Ingle (Lake County): 1-for-3, 2B, BB - The hit streak continues for Ingle as his double in the first made it 12 straight games with a hit. That is a mark that leads the Midwest League and the longest such spell in Lake County this year.

CF Jake Fox (Lake County): 1-for-3, 2B, IBB - The 21-year-old reached base twice via a double and a walk. 12 of the last 13 games have seen Fox record a hit.

3B Jeffrey Mercedes (ACL): 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B - Mercedes was rare brght spot for the ACL offense last night. Over the last two days, he is 3-for-8 with a run scored, another driven in, two doubles, and a triple.

1B Luis Merejo (ACL): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K - After going homerless in his first 18 stateside games (53 at-bats), Merejo has now hit a round-tripper on back-to-back nights.

SP Melkis Hernandez (ACL): ND, 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (earned), 8 K - Hernandez was dominant in his first stateside start, bringing his season K:BB ratio to 19:2 in an effort that showed a glimpse of what made him a Dominican Summer League All-Star last season.

1B CJ Kayfus (Akron): 1-for-3, R, HR, 4 RBIs, BB, HBP, CS - Make it seven RBIs since joining the Akron roster with his grand slam to put the game out of reach entirely. It is his first homerun in Double-A and eighth overall in 2024 after a pair of doubles yesterday in Portland. He reached base three times overall with a walk and hit by pitch as well.

RF Alexfri Planez (Akron): 1-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBIs, BB - Planez would hit a homerun himself, his eighth of the year and a two-run shot to put Akron in front 3-0. He has been on quite the power surge with four homeruns in his last seven games played and three in the month of June. He has hits in six of his last seven games, however the one game in between, he entered as a defensive replacement late in the contest.

SP Ross Carver (Akron): 3.0 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 Ks - Carver made his first start of the season as the RubberDucks stretched him out for a season-high 3.0 innings of work. After a 1-2-3 first inning, he worked around a leadoff single int he second and a walk in the third to keep the zero on the board through 41 pitches (26 strikes).

SP Austin Peterson (Lake County): 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, ER, 3 BBs, 8 Ks, PO, HBP - Peterson now has 10 starts out of 11 this season where he has gone at least five innings and allowed three or fewer runs. He now has 71 punchouts on the year after adding eight to his ledger on Wednesday. After yielding an unearned run in the first, he kept his composure and made it through five with the lead. He would exit with a tie ballgame after allowing a run in the sixth.

LF Jonah Advincula (Lake County): 2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 2 RBIs - The 23-year-old did it all for the Captains with a pair of extra-base hits. His triple in the second put Lake County in front 2-1 and he would give the team the lead once more with a groundout in the seventh, but they would not be able to stay in front. The highlight of the game for him came in the third when he robbed a homerun on the defensive side of the ball.

RF Guy Lipscomb (Lake County): 3-for-4, 2 R, 3B, CS - A three-hit day for Lipscomb as he put himself on base ahead of Advincula for two of the team’s three runs. The 23-year-old missed the first few games of the month of June, but kick started the new month with a bang on Wednesday to stay at a .341 average and a .901 OPS.

Notable Performances:

1B Micah Pries (Columbus): 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI - Pries’ fifth homerun of 2024 was a no doubt shot - the hardest hit ball of the day at 108.8 mph off the bat and 377 feet into deep right.

CF Lorenzo Cedrola (Columbus): 2-for-4, SB, E8T - A multi-hit day credited to the Venezuelan and despite the error, had some good defensive plays on a gusty day in downtown Indianapolis.

DH Jhonkensy Noel (Columbus): 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB - Noel delivered his 45th RBI of the season on a first inning groundout, good for second in the International League and had an extra-base hit with a two-out double in the third.

SS Jose Tena (Columbus): 1-for-4, R, 2B, BB, CS - One hit for the left-handed hitting Tena, a double that resulted in a run scored in the ninth.

RF George Valera (Columbus): 1-for-4, 2B, RBI - Valera capped a three-run top of the first with an RBI double and now has an extra-base hit in each of the last three games. He had two of the top five hardest hit balls of the game.

RP Jaime Arias (Akron): W (2-1), 3.2 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 3 Ks - The bulk of the game belonged to Arias between the three pitchers as he went nearly four innings. He struck out two in his first inning on the bump and settled back in after allowing a solo homerun followed by a double and walk in the sixth to prevent further damage.

RP Bradley Hanner (Akron): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2 Ks - The only damage for Hanner was a walk, but he would go on to retire the final seven batters he faced and left his inherited runner stranded. It is his fourth straight scoreless appearance out of the RubberDucks bullpen.

LF Joe Lampe (Akron): 3-for-4, 3 R, 2B, SB - Lampe got on base often and made his opponents pay every time with three runs scored. He also swiped second and had a double, his 11th in 2024. This is his first three-hit game since August 27 of last season.

CF Petey Halpin (Akron): 1-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBIs, BB - Halpin’s two-out, two-run single pushed the lead out to 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning.

DH Milan Tolentino (Akron): 1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BBs, PO - Tolentino reached base three times and came around to score twice.

C Cooper Ingle (Lake County): 1-for-3, 2B, BB - The hit streak continues for Ingle as his double in the first made it 12 straight games with a hit. That is a mark that leads the Midwest League and the longest such spell in Lake County this year.

CF Jake Fox (Lake County): 1-for-3, 2B, IBB - The 21-year-old reached base twice via a double and a walk. 12 of the last 13 games have seen Fox record a hit.

3B Jeffrey Mercedes (ACL): 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B - Mercedes was rare brght spot for the ACL offense last night. Over the last two days, he is 3-for-8 with a run scored, another driven in, two doubles, and a triple.

1B Luis Merejo (ACL): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K - After going homerless in his first 18 stateside games (53 at-bats), Merejo has now hit a round-tripper on back-to-back nights.

SP Melkis Hernandez (ACL): ND, 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (earned), 8 K - Hernandez was dominant in his first stateside start, bringing his season K:BB ratio to 19:2 in an effort that showed a glimpse of what made him a Dominican Summer League All-Star last season.


<


C.J. Kayfus hits grand slam in Akron win, Jonah Advincula shines on offense and defense for Lake County

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Thursday, June 6, 2024

By Brian Hemminger@BrianHemminger Jun 6, 2024, 10:00am EDT


Columbus Clippers 6, Indianapolis Indians 11
Clippers improve to 22-36


The Columbus Clippers had another strong day off offense, but the pitching and defense let the team down

Juan Brito went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk while Johnathan Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two doubles.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1798472716581806530

Lorenzo Cedrola went 2-for-4 with a stolen base while Jhonkensy Noel went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk and Micah Pries homered. George Valera also doubled.

Joey Cantillo made his first return to the mound and he pitched well before running into trouble in the third inning. He ended up giving up two earned runs on two hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts in 2 1⁄3 innings.

The bullpen struggled as Mason Hickman was tattooed for three runs in 2⁄3 of an inning and Tyler Beede gave up five runs in three innings.

Even Andrew Walters pitching a scoreless inning wasn’t great because he left with the bases loaded after a pair of walks and a hit.


Akron RubberDucks 9, Portland Sea Dogs 1
Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 31-22


C.J. Kayfus just refuses to slow down. One day after making an impressive Double-A debut, Kayfus blasted off for a grand slam. He also walked and was hit by a pitch.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1798521579661623760

Joe Lampe also had a huge game, going 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and three runs scored.

Milan Tolentino reached base safely three times, going 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. Alexfri Planez also stayed hot, going 1-for-4 with his eighth home run.

Starting pitcher Ross Carver was rock solid, tossing three shutout innings on one hit with a pair of strikeouts and a walk. Jaime Arias gave up one run in 3 2⁄3 innings and Bradley Hanner closed out the victory with 2 1⁄3 scoreless innings.


Lake County Captains 3, Beloit Sky Carp 4
Hillcats fall to 30-22


Guy Lipscomb continues to rake, going 3-for-4 with a triple and a pair of runs scored.

Jonah Advincula also had a big game, going 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1798506171038667152

Advincula also robbed a home run. Watching this is worth it just for the bullpen reaction alone.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1798510917988258035

Cooper Ingle and Jake Fox doubled and walked while Jose Devers doubled, but that wasn’t enough offense as a late bullpen blowup cost the Captains.

Starting pitcher Austin Peterson was terrific, allowing one earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in 5 2⁄3 innings.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1798546008206635303

Zach Jacobs took the loss, giving up two runs on four hits, one of them a home run, in 2 1⁄3 innings.


ACL Guardians 2, ACL Giants 8
Guardians improve 9-13


Luis Merejo homered for the second game in a row while Jeffrey Mercedes went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple to account for three of the ACL Guardians’ four hits.

Starting pitcher Melkis Hernandez was sensational, striking out eight batters in 4 1⁄3 innings with no walks and just one hit allowed.

Unfortunately, Keegan Zinn had a rough day, allowing seven runs in just 1 1⁄3 innings of relief, primarily due to control issues as he walked four and hit two batters.

Lynchburg had its game postponed due to rain.

<

Johnathan Rodriguez is 2-6 tonight.
2-run homer in the 8th.
He followed that one with a 3-run homer in the 9th on the 14th pitch he saw.
Bring him up!
Another 20 hit game for the Clips; 4=Noel; 3= Straw & Pries; 2= Brito, Rodriguez, Valera, Lavistida

<

Johnathan Rodriquez with his 2nd 2-run homer & a grand slam in the Clips 12-run 9th.
9 rbi's for Rodriguez.
Bring him up!
Clips lead 23-3 heading into the home half of the 9th

<

2 homers by Lavistida; Clips 7 homers tonight.

<