Cleveland Sports Forum

and Trevor Steohan elbow surgery in a week or two; no suggestion yet if this kills the entire season but I assume so.

Among the uninjured, today:

Florial LF looking for an extra base hit and a K-free day
Laureano DH
Josh 1B
Fry C
Brennan RF
Rocchio SS with Arias ill he's getting lots of opportunity
Straw CF I guess he's saved his role unless they move Freeman ahead of him
Schneemann 3B
Tena 2B
Allen P

Cleveland Guardians Spring Training Prospect Report 3/13/24

ARTHUR KINNEY

MAR 14

Game 19 - Texas Rangers 8, Cleveland Guardians 3

STARTER

Angel Martinez (SS): 0-2 -

While Martinez had an uncharacteristically bad day in an otherwise impressive spring (1.304 OPS), the real story here is that he started at shortstop for the second straight game with what appears to be the regular season starting lineup. Coincidence? Or Vogt telegraphing who is leading the position battle?

NOTABLE RESERVES

Petey Halpin (CF): 1-1 -

It was only one hit, but it was more than the rest of the Guardian backups achieved offensively - combined - on Wednesday in Goodyear.

Micah Pries (LF): 0-2, 1 K -

Pries went hitless in his first major league game action since March 2. (He dressed for the road split squad the next day but did not play.)

Kody Huff (PH): 0-1 -

After spending his first three major league games either in the dugout or as a bullpen catcher, Huff finally made his Big Club spring debut by grounding out 5-3 for the contest’s penultimate out.

Kyle Manzardo (1B): no plate appearances, 1 E -

Manzardo’s day was hardly notable, but the nature of the error he committed is. Namely, a dropped foul ball. The fact that this error is so undercalled by modern official scorers is one of my pet peeves. Big props to the official scorer for making the right call!

ALSO PLAYED

Raynel Delgado (3B): 0-1

Joe Lampe (PR-RF): 0-1

Yordys Valdes (2B): 0-1, 1 K

Jose Tena (SS): 0-2, 1 K

RELIEVERS

Trey Benton: 0.1 IP, perfect, 1 K -

Benton needed only three pitches to strike out Matt Shaw to get the Guardians out of a rough first frame that saw starter Tanner Bibee struggle significantly.

Jack Leftwich: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K -

After a leadoff single that would’ve not happened without Manzardo’s aforementioned pop fly miscue, Leftwich set the last three Cub batters of the game down in order to emerge unscathed.

DRESSED BUT DID NOT PLAY

IF Fran Alduey

OF Luis Durango

Ps Bradley Hanner, Erik Sabrowski, and Davis Sharpe

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Guardians left-hander Logan Allen allowed one run on two hits in 3 1/3 innings Thursday in his third spring start.Charlie Riedel, AP

Guardians start spring break early with 13-7 win over the Rockies behind 16 hits

Updated: Mar. 14, 2024, 8:04 p.m.|Published: Mar. 14, 2024, 7:42 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Left-hander Logan Allen looked good and his offense looked better on Thursday at Goodyear Ballpark.

Allen allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings as the Guardians’ offense had its best day of the spring in a 13-7 Cactus League victory over the Rockies.

The Guardians set spring highs with 13 runs and 16 hits. Will Brennan, David Fry, Lorenzo Cedrola and Raynel Delgado homered. Brennan, Fry and Cedrola have two homers each this spring.

Myles Straw, trying to make up for lost time because of a bout with the flu, went 3 for 3 with two doubles and two runs. His first double helped start the Guardians’ seven-run rally in the fourth inning

The big hits in the inning were Ramon Laureano’s two-run double and Fry’s two-run homer. Brayan Rocchio was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He went to third on Straw’s double and scored on Peter Lambert’s wild pitch.

Estevan Florial and Josh Naylor drove in runs in the inning as well. Florial beat out a fielder’s choice to score Daniel Schneemann from third. Naylor singled home Laureano. Laureano, Straw and Jose Tena drove in two runs each.

Tena doubled home a run in the second and scored Straw on a sacrifice fly in the fifth for a 10-3 lead. Straw reached on his second double of the afternoon.

The Rockies worked their way back into the game as Alan Trejo hit a three-run homer off Emmanuel Clase in the fifth to make it 9-4. They added two more runs in the seventh off Eli Morgan to make it 10-6.

The three runs Clase allowed were his first of the spring.

The Guards put the game away in the eighth as Cedrola and Delgado hit consecutive homers to start the inning.

Allen struck out three, walked two and allowed two hits in his third start of the spring.

Hunter Gaddis turned in another scoreless inning. He’s allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings this spring and has a good chance of making the staff either in the rotation or bullpen.

The Guardians need a starter with Gavin Williams (right elbow) opening the year on the injured list. They also need relievers with Trevor Stephan (right elbow) undergoing Tommy John surgery and James Karinchak (right shoulder) opening the year on the IL.

Next:

The Guardians play the Royals on Friday at Surprise Stadium. Triston McKenzie is scheduled to start with WTAM broadcasting the game.

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Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams.AP

Guardians spring training camp rocked by bad news for pitchers

Updated: Mar. 14, 2024, 3:53 p.m.|Published: Mar. 14, 2024, 1:29 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The sky isn’t falling, but if you’re Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti or manager Stephen Vogt, you may want to start wearing a batting helmet.

Following the Thursday announcement that reliever Trevor Stephan would be lost for the season because of Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, and that prospect Daniel Espino would miss his second straight season following surgery on his right shoulder and rotator cuff, the bad news just kept coming out of the Guardians’ training camp in Goodyear, Arizona.

Antonetti told reporters on a Zoom call Thursday that right-hander Gavin Williams would open the year on the injured list with a sore right elbow. Williams was scheduled to be one of Cleveland’s five starters, so a replacement has to be found.

He also announced that left-hander Sam Hentges, a big part of the bullpen, was getting the middle finger on his left hand examined by a specialist. Antonetti said Hentges has experienced soreness and swelling in the finger.

The bullpen, a team strength last season, has already lost two arms to injuries. On top of Stephan being lost for the year, Antonetti announced that James Karinchak will open the season on the injured list with a sore right shoulder. Karinchak hasn’t appeared in a game this spring.

This is the second time in the last three years that Karinchak missed spring training with a shoulder injury.

If that wasn’t enough right-hander Justin Campbell was scratched from MLB’s Saturday night Spring Breakout game against the Reds. This is a platform to highlight some of the top prospects from each team.

Williams had made two strong starts this spring before injuring his elbow. In those starts he had nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

“Gavin hasn’t thrown for a couple of days,” said Antonetti. “He aggravated the back of his elbow while he was doing some weighted ball work. He’s going to need probably another three to four days of not throwing. We met with Gavin today to walk through the calendar and we don’t think he’s going to build enough volume to be ready to start the season on the active roster.”

The Guardians open the season March 28 in Oakland.

“We anticipate that Gavin will open the season on the injured list and be able to rejoin the team once he’s built up,” said Antonetti. “We just don’t have enough time to build him up as a starter.”

An MRI on Williams’ elbow showed it was structurally sound.

Regarding Hentges, Antonetti said, “Sam has had some swelling in his finger. There’s a little bit of discomfort there. We’ll get a specialist to take a look at Sam.”

The Guardians have several candidates to replace Williams, including Carlos Carrasco, Tyler Beede, Xzavion Curry, Hunter Gaddis and Ben Lively. Joey Cantillo, recently optioned to Class AAA Columbus, could be a candidate at some point this season as well.

Carrasco spent the first 11 years of his career in Cleveland. He spent the last three with the Mets after being traded along with Francisco Lindor before the 2021 season. This spring he’s appeared in four games, including two starts, while allowing three runs on six hits in eight innings.

“It’s been so much fun watching the way Carlos leads this group,” said Vogt. “I wasn’t here when he was here before, but he’s just jumped right back in. Carlos is throwing the ball really well.

“The velo is starting to come back up again and his secondary pitches look as good as they have since I can remember. He’s built up to about four innings (per outing) right now.”

Carrasco, Beede, Curry, Gaddis and Lively could also be candidates to fill out the bullpen.

“We do feel we have options in the rotation and the bullpen,” said Antonetti. “But our depth will definitely be tested. We’re going to have to work through not only how we fill the innings, and how we do that in a way that still allows us to win games.

“We’ll take some time over the next few weeks to put those pieces together. It might be something that evolves over time and how we address that spot. It hasn’t been helped by the fact that we’ve had a number of people in camp who have been knocked out by the flu or another bug that has been going around.”

Lively has been on of the starters who has been hit hard by the flu.

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Breaking Down the Guardians’ Roster for the Spring Breakout Game

You won’t be able to watch it at home, but it’ll be exciting for someone

By Quincy Wheeler Mar 7, 2024, 9:17pm EST 5 Comments / 5 New

Guardians’ top prospects and Reds’ prospects are headed toward a desert showdown on Saturday, March 16th at 7:05 PM EST.

This winter, MLB announced an exciting new idea where teams’ top prospects would face off vs. each other in a special Spring Training showcase matchup. You can read more about the concept from MLB.com here. Unfortunately, Bally Sports is up their usual shenanigans and will not broadcast the game nor will it be on MLB.TV, at least as far as we know. You will be able to listen to Audio on the MLB app or Guardians’ website. So, we may be following on GameDay and reading reports afterwards but it will still be fun to see what happens when a team of Guardians’ top prospects go up against the best the Reds have to offer.

Let’s take a look at the prospects the Guardians plan to field. Thanks to Jeff Ellis and Justin Lada of Locked On Guardians for providing the list of players. Be sure to follow them on Twitter and to subscribe to their podcast:

Pitchers:

Alex Clemmey, LHP, 18 years old - Number 9 on MLB Pipeline - Our Matt Dallas wrote an article about Clemmey’s potential for us in 2023 and Clemmey was ranked by CTC users as the 14th best prospect recently, during which time Brian Hemminger provided us a great summary of his skills.

Jackson Humphries, RHP, 19 years old - Number 14 on MLB Pipeline. Humphries had a 4.28 xFIP in Low-A Lynchburg last year with a 9.13/3.04 K/BB/9, not bad numbers for his age. He throws mid 90’s and is another potential starter in the Guardians’ pitching factory assembly line.

Parker Messick, LHP, 23 years old - Number 23 on MLB Pipeline, Messick got a write-up from CTC writer Zach recently. His 4.04 xFIP and 10.38/3.46 K/BB/9 last year at High-A were solid, but he’ll need to break out a little more impressively in 2024 to look like more than a future depth starter for the Guardians.

Andrew Walters, RHP, 23 years old - Number 27 on MLB Pipeline, Walters was drafted as a pure reliever in 2023 and you can read our Brian Hemminger’s write-up of him here. He has an excellent rising fastball that could see him reach the bigs as early as this coming season.

Will Dion, LHP, 23 years old - Number 28 on MLB Pipeline was ranked number 11 in our recent CTC user Guardians’ prospect poll and Brian Hemminger wrote him up here. Dion is known for his Kershaw-like delivery and has seen a lot of minor-league success so far, despite topping out at around 90 mph with his fastball.

Justin Campbell, RHP, 23 years old - Number 11 on 2023 FanGraphs’ Guardians list. Campbell was out all of 2023 with an elbow surgery but he's still an exciting prospect who came in 20th on our Guardians' prospect list and was written about by Brian Hemminger.

Doug Nikhazy, LHP, 24 years old - Number 42 on 2023 FanGraphs’ Guardians’ list. Nikhazy has a very fun personality as described in this article. His 11.29 K/9 at Akron in 2023 was excellent but he'll have to get his 6.44 K/9 lowered to avoid eventually being moved to a bullpen role. He tops out around 92 mph but has a good hard slider and a high spin curve he uses to miss bats... and unfortunately strike zones.

Ryan Webb, LHP, 24 years old - Webb actually had a good year at Akron in 2023, with a 3.70 FIP and a 9.11/3.73 K/BB/9. He went to the Arizona Fall League and struck out 14.29 per 9 also. Definitely an oft-overlooked name to watch

Catchers:

Bryan Lavastida RH C, 25 years old - At this point, Lavastida is an organizational warrior. He made the roster in 2022 but has been plagued by injuries since. He walks at a steady rate but only had a 75 wRC+ in Columbus last season.

Cooper Ingle, LH C, 22 years old - With a 153 wRC+ at High-A Lake County last season and a 11.6/24.6 K/BB%, we should probably talk more about Ingle than we do. I gather his defense is still a work in progress but I'd like to see him get some aggressive promotion in 2024.

Kody Huff, RH C, 23 years old - Huff has a 104 wRC+ in Low A for the Rockies last season and was voted the top defensive catcher in his league before being traded to Cleveland this offseason in the Cal Quantrill deal. Defense is his calling card, but he has steady 11% walk rate and a modicum of pop that gives him defense-first ML starter ceiling.

Infielders:

Kyle Manzardo LH 1B/DH, 23 years old - Number 2 on MLB Pipeline's Guardians list, Manzardo was the prize in the Aaron Civale deal and Brian Hemminger wrote him up for us recently when he was also ranked 2nd in the system by CTC users.

Angel Genao Switch-Hitting 2B/SS/3B, 19 years old - Number 12 on MLB Pipeline. Genao is just another of the hordes of solid middle infield prospects Cleveland collects, He had a 110 wRC+ for Lynchburg in 2023 with a 15.5/10.8 K/B% and split his time evenly there between short and third with the occasional start at second thrown in.

Kahlil Watson LH SS/CF, 20 years old - Number 16 on MLB Pipeline, Watson was traded to Cleveland in the Josh Bell deal last summer and hit number 18 on our CTC user top Guardians' prospects list. Brendan wrote a nice article about his potential. Watson has played some CF for the Guardians this Spring also.

Jose Devers RH SS/3B, 20 years old - Number 21 on MLB Pipeline, Devers had a 113 wRC+ in Low-A Lynchburg with a 20.1/10.5 K/BB%. He played shortstop mostly at Lynchburg, but also saw time at third base. Death, taxes and another solid middle infield prospect.

Alex Mooney, RH 2B/SS/3B, 21 years old - Number 22 on MLB Pipeline, Mooney had a bit of a rough start in Lynchburg with only a 47 wRC+, but he ran a 9% walk rate and fly ball and pull rates over 50%. I think he's a sleeper to have a good season as a scrappy middle-infield type.

Rafael Ramirez, Jr. LH SS, 18 years old - Number 25 on MLB Pipeline, Ramirez had K and BB% around 26%, and a 133 wRC+. There are some raw tools to like a lot here. He was one of the youngest bats in the Arizona Complex league.

CJ Kayfus, LH 1B/OF, 22 years old - Kayfus is one of those underrated gems in the Guardians' system. He had a 171 wRC+ at Low-A Lynchburg 15.6/19.3 K/BB% and a .271 ISO. If he proves capable of playing corner outfield and finds a way to lift the ball more often, he's gonna skyrocket on the prospect lists.

Outfielders:

Chase DeLauter, LH OF, 22 years old - Number 1 on MLB Pipeline, Number 1 on CTC's users' prospect list and number 1 in our hearts, DeLauter was scouted thoroughly by our Brian Hemminger here. He's also looked solid in Spring Training for the Guardians.

Jaison Chourio Switch-hitting OF, 18 years old - Number 6 on MLB Pipeline, Chourio came in at number 10 on our CTC prospect list where he got a nice write-up as always from Brian Hemminger.

Petey Halpin LH OF, 21 years old - Number 17 on MLB Pipeline and number 18 on CTC users' rankings, Brian wrote about the spunky, speedy centerfielder here.

Jake Fox LH OF, 21 years old - Number 20 on MLB Pipeline, Fox got a write-up from our Zach recently. I appreciate that he's a pulled-fly ball guy, with numbers around 50% for both rates.

Joe Lampe LH OF, 23 years old - Number 39 on FanGraphs’ 2023 Guardians List, Lampe had a 94 wRC+ in High-A last season. He doesn't do a lot that excites me but I know a lot of prospect folks see potential for more here.

Notable Omissions:

It is perhaps interesting that Joey Cantillo, Juan Brito and Angel Martinez aren't on this roster. Is that because they have a chance at cracking the Guardians 26-man? Probably not, but it is interesting.

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Jhonkensy Noel,

Previewing Guardians’ Spring Breakout Roster: Part 2

We have some new arrivals to the roster

By Quincy Wheeler Mar 14, 2024, 4:34pm EDT 10 Comments / 10 New

The Guardians have added some more prospects to their roster for Saturday’s Spring Breakout game.

On Saturday, March 16th, the Guardians’ and Reds’ top prospects will match-up in a game at 7:05 EST to which you can listen on MLB.com. So far, it doesn’t appear you will be able to watch it because MLB and Bally Sports are great like that. We previewed the initial roster release earlier, please check it out. But, there have been some updates since.

Justin Campbell and Bryan Lavastida have been removed from the roster. No word on Lavastida yet, but it’s been rumored by some Guardians accounts posting on Twitter that Campbell may be hurt again, sadly.

Added to the initial roster provided in the article linked above are the players previewed below:

Juan Brito, 2B/3B, Switch-Hitter, 22 years old - Brian Hemminger recently provided a scouting report on Brito for Covering the Corner when users ranked Brito the fifth best Guardians’ prospect. Brito proceeded to have a solid Spring Training with the team, working counts, taking walks, hitting some balls hard and having a sensational performance at third base in at least one game. He’s a pulled fly-ball king whom I believe is our second baseman shortly after the All-Star break (moving Andres Gimenez to shortstop). Don’t believe me? Watch this smooth as butter back-flip:

Jhonkensy Noel, 1B/OF, RH, 22 years old - Speaking of home runs, Brian also described slugger Noel for us when he came in 17th on our prospect ranking list. Noel shares a lot in common with Deyvison De Los Santos, currently set to make the Guardians’ roster... was successful at a young age at Double-A, hits too many groundballs and strikes out more than what you’d want. From my brief observations, it seems that Noel has more of a chance to stick in the outfield than De Los Santos. He also reliably mashes left-handed pitching (somewhere around an .850 OPS against them over the past three years). Let’s hope we get to enjoy a Jhonk Donk in the Breakout game:

Franco Aleman, RHP, 23 years old - A breakout reliever for the Guardians minor-leagues in 2023, Aleman put up a 0.98 FIP and a 14.25/1.88 K/BB/9 in 24 innings in Akron. He then struck out six batters in three innings in Columbus (and walked three). Aleman throws upper 90’s and is working on a split-fingered pitch to pair with his slider and help his dominant fastball get the job done in the majors. I’d expect to see Aleman a good bit in Cleveland this year.

Mason Hickman, RHP, 25 years old - Hickman is not what I’d really call a prospect. His 11.69 K/9 at Akron last year is some reason for optimism on a potential middle-relief role for the future if he can keep the walks under control.

Brad Hanner, RHP, 25 years old - The Guardians sent Hanner to the Arizona Fall League. The Guardians gave Hanner an invite to major league Spring Training. The Guardians put Hanner on their Spring Breakout roster. The Guardians know a lot more about pitching than I do so there must be something here that I absolutely do not see. That 10.05/5.02 K/BB/9 and 4.16 FIP in around 200 minor league innings isn’t enough for me to see much here, no offense to Mr. Hanner. Or Mr. Hanner’s mom.

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Yes, I read that Campbell is hurt again; another top draft pick pitcher could miss his 2nd year in a row.

Florial led off the game with a strike out; next time up struck out with two on base; last 2 at bats much better, one was a ground out that scored a run and the other he put the ball in play again. HItting 100/182/100 with 14K in 32 total AB
DeLosSantos singled once in two at bats. Still hasn't drawn a walk and has only one extra base hit [his long home run] but his 267/267/367 with 6K in 30 AB isn't bad for a boy playing against men.

Brennan 2nd homer. If he can hit 15-20 that would be a nice improvement
Fry his his 2nd. It would be a shame to squeeze him out of a job. There is probably room for only 2 of 3 among Manzardo, Fry and DLS. There roster status probably gives advantage to Fry and DLS to open the year.

Among the uninjured relievers, Morgan is not having a good spring. 2 runs yesterday makes 6 in 6 innings, 2 homers, 3 walks
Clase had his first bad game, allowing a 3 run homer.

Well, so much for well-pitched ,low-scoring games. I like high scoring games anyway.

Injuries piling up.

Next man up.

Might get rained out today. Lots of showers in the valley.

Cleveland Guardians Spring Training Prospect Report 3/14/24

JUSTIN LADA

MAR 15

Game 20 - Cleveland Guardians 13, Colorado Rockies 7

STARTERS

Brayan Rocchio (SS): 1-2, R -

Rocchio has put together a few good days in a row at short while Gabriel Arias recovers from the viral illness that just won’t leave the Goodyear complex. Vogt and the Guardians still aren’t tipping their hand about who is going to earn the starting shortstop job.

Daniel Schneemann (3B): 1-2, BB, K -

Schneemann got a callout by Vogt during some media sessions on Thursday (before or after the game, I can’t recall now), but Vogt seems to be the kind of manager that would notice and appreciate a player like Schneemann, who has kind of been an org soldier and has moved around. Again, he has earned his cup of coffee somewhere in the majors, maybe not in Cleveland, with a chance to prove he could be a utility guy in the majors, which wouldn’t surprise me.

Jose Tena (2B): 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI -

Tena had himself a nice day with a double, continuing to work on keeping his name in the ring on the 40 man roster.

NOTABLE RESERVES

Raynel Delgado (SS): 1-1, RBI -

Delgado is sort of in the same bucket as Schneemann, although he was once much more highly regarded as prospect.

Johnny Tincher (DH): 0-1, K -

No hit, but it was Tincher, a 2023 draft pick, first appearance in a spring training game this year.

Angel Martinez (2B): 0-1 -

Fouled a ball off his foot and left the game. Vogt said he was fine.

Dayan Frias (3B): 1-1 -

Took over Martinez’s spot in the lineup and collected a hit late.

Chase DeLauter (CF): 1-2 -

Continues to get MLB playing time. He’s not going to make the opening day roster, but I know some people think him not being “reassigned” to minor league camp gives him a chance. DeLauter is an “unofficial” non-roster invitee, so he probably won’t officially get “reassigned” and will just start playing in minor league games soon to build up his workload for the year. Vogt has even said the last part about him and other guys.

Deyvison De Los Santos (1B): 1-2, K -

I would think Cleveland would want De Los Santos to start at 1B, DH, 3B, RF nearly everyday, or at least only get one day off from starting to work the other regulars in, to best evaluate if he can stick in the majors this year. Him coming in late in the game to face other team’s Triple-A and Double-A relievers doesn’t really do them or him much good, I think.

ALSO PLAYED

Connor Kokx (LF): 0-1, K

Jose Pastrano (2B): 0-1

RELIEVERS

Bradley Hanner: 0.2IP -

Came in at the end of Allen’s 3+ innings to finish it off and had a clean ouing.

Hunter Gaddis: IP, K -

I keep forgetting Gaddis is technically still a ‘prospect’ because he hasn’t exhausted his rookie eligibility yet. He probably will soon as he will likely make the opening day bullpen with all the injuries.

Tanner Burns: IP, 2K -

He’s only pitching at the end of games, so likely facing a bunch of reserves, but Burns has been good when he does it at least and seems to be staying in a bullpen role (unless he’s being stretched out in minor league games).

DRESSED BUT DID NOT PLAY

OF Barrett Riebock

P John Dokaxis, Erik Sabrowski

6-1 win today behind some very nice pitching by one of the contenders for the rotation: Tyler Beede 5 3 hit solo innings. Barlow and Herrin each a perfect innings with 2 strikeouts. Cade Smith 2 innings, 1 run, 3 strikeouts

DeLosSantos 1-4 with a double and a strikeout
DeLauter 1-2 plus a walk [3 walks 3 strikeouts]
Manzardo 1-3 [2 walks 7 strikeouts]

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tyler Beede struck out four batters agaisnt the Royals on Friday.

GUARDIANS

Tyler Beede goes five scoreless innings in Guardians’ 6-1 spring training win against Kansas City

Updated: Mar. 15, 2024, 7:48 p.m.|Published: Mar. 15, 2024, 7:30 p.m.

By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Tyler Beede became the first Guardians pitcher to go five innings this spring, tossing five shutout frames against the Royals on Friday as Cleveland picked up a 6-1 Cactus League win against Kansas City in Surprise, Arizona.

The game was delayed more than an hour by rain, but that did not seem to bother Beede, who pitched professionally in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants last season. He walked one and scattered three hits. In four Cactus League appearances, Beede has posted a 1.69 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings.

With an elbow injury limiting starting pitcher Gavin Williams, Beede is competing with Carlos Carrasco, Ben Lively and Xzavion Curry among others to fill the hole in the rotation.

José Ramírez, Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter collected early hits, but the Guardians could not push a run across the plate against Royals starter Brady Singer, who struck out four while walking three in four scoreless innings.

Cleveland broke through with four runs on four hits in the seventh as Raynel Delgado drove in a pair with a base hit off Nick Anderson and Daniel Schneemann delivered a two-run triple.

Petey Halpin and Christian Cairo each added two-out RBI singles in the ninth off Royals lefty Tyson Guerrero that pushed Cleveland’s advantage to six.

Scott Barlow and Tim Herrin each struck out a pair while tossing scoreless innings in relief of Beede. Herrin, competing for a spot in the bullpen with Sam Hentges sidelined by an injured finger, has 10 strikeouts in nine Cactus League innings with just two walks.

Right-hander Cade Smith, also battling for a spot in the bullpen, struck out the side after allowing a leadoff single in the eighth. Smith, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020, allowed a run on two hits in the ninth, but worked out of a jam thanks to a double-play grounder off the bat of Tucker Bradley to end the contest.

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Kyle Manzardo is having a strong spring, batting .381.

What are plans for Chase DeLauter & Kyle Manzardo? – Terry Pluto’s Guardians Scribbles

Updated: Mar. 16, 2024, 5:13 a.m.|Published: Mar. 16, 2024, 5:12 a.m.

By Terry Pluto, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – What I’m hearing from the Guardians camp in Goodyear:

1. The Guardians are thrilled with hitting prospects Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter. That said, there is almost zero chance of either opening the season with Cleveland. The Guardians want both of them to start in the minors to get some regular at-bats and be ready to join Cleveland at some point in the summer.

2. DeLauter has only 242 plate appearances in the minors. His highest level is Class AA, and he played only six games there. DeLauter batted .355 last season, mostly for Class A Lake County. This spring, he is 9 of 19 (.474) with a pair of homers. His maturity off the field and as a hitter is impressive.

3. Manzardo has 862 pro plate appearances. He played 30 games in Class AA, 94 in Class AAA. Most of the time, hitters need about 1,200 to 1,500 plate appearances in the minors to be big league ready. DeLauter and Manzardo can both rush that timetable, but it won’t happen in April, Manzardo is 8 of 21 (.381) this spring with a pair of doubles.

4. You can expect Estevan Florial to make the team and play a lot in center field early in the season. Florial has had a miserable spring: 3 of 30 (.100) with 14 strikeouts. The Guardians scouts like him. It’s why they traded Cody Morris to the Yankees for the left-handed hitter. They aren’t going to write him off because of a bad spring.

5. Florial is the opposite of Manzardo and DeLauter. At the age of 26, he has extensive minor league experience – 3,060 plate appearances. He’s hit .265 (.848 OPS) in 1,305 plate appearances in Class AAA. Last year, he batted .284 (.945 OPS) with 28 HR, 79 RBI and 25 stolen bases. The Guardians believe there’s nothing left for him to do at Class AAA. It’s time to play him in the big leagues and see if he can produce.

6. Nerves are a part of spring training when young players are competing for jobs. Florial has displayed it. So have shortstops Brayan Rocchio ( 4 of 25, .160) and Gabriel Arias (3 of 18, .167), both battling for a starting job. The one who doesn’t win it will probably go back to Class AAA.

7. I expect Deyvison De Los Santos to make the team. He was a Rule 5 draft pick by the Guardians from Arizona. If the Guardians don’t keep him on their opening day roster, they have to offer the 20-year-old prospect back to Arizona. The Diamondbacks will probably grab him. De Los Santos is batting .265 (9 of 34) this spring. He has a homer and has struck out seven times in 35 plate appearances.

8. Until coming to Cleveland, De Los Santos played third and first base in the minors. His highest level was Class AA. The Guardians are using him in the outfield at times. He’s off to a decent start.

9. The bullpen … oh, my, the bullpen … Trevor Stephan is out for the season with Tommy John elbow surgery. James Karinchak is out with a shoulder problem and will open on the injured list. Sam Hentges is having a sore finger on his pitching hand examined. The door is wide open for prospect Cade Smith and others to make the team as Cleveland looks for power arms.



Can Hunter Gaddis help in the bullpen? The Guardians will find out.

10. Hunter Gaddis is being groomed for the bullpen. He had been mostly a starter until this spring. Gaddis throws in the 94-96 mph range. He had a 2-1 record and 4.50 ERA with Cleveland in 2023. He was worse for Class AAA Columbus (2-10, 6.05 ERA).

11. The Gaddis move to the bullpen reminds me of a theory by former Tribe GM John Hart. When he saw a big guy with a power arm who consistently struggled as a starter, Hart would say, “Put him in the bullpen, Make it simple. Throw only two pitches, no more. Throw as hard as you can.” That worked for pitchers such as Jose Mesa, Danny Baez and Eric Plunk when Hart ran the team.

12. As more players are sent to the minors, remember the roster you see in April may change dramatically by June. This will be another season where Cleveland will keep moving players up and down from the minors as they look for more big league talent.

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