Civ,

I am wondering if Christain Cario being picked in Rule 5 gave hime some confidence. In 51 at bats he 802 OPS, 3 sb, but has 17 K's (33% SO rate). He is supposed to have a pretty good glove. Jensen Lewis was talking about the minor league options if Ricchio was hurt and mentioned most of the MI's (Brito, Bazzanna, Amgel Martinez could not handle ss defensively) He also mentioned Genoa was hurt and needed seasoning. The other guy on the show (don't know his name, said that Arias lacked the range for SS.

What are your thoughts regarding the depth?

Al

thanks civ!

Good day for pitchers:
Ryan Webb (SP, Columbus): 4.2 IP, 3 H, R, 3 BBs, 6 Ks - Webb has a game-high 14 whiffs with nine of them coming on the slider. Combined, Webb had 17 whiffs plus called strikes on that pitch alone to fool hitters. He surrendered some hard contact but was able to get a few key outs to limit the damage. A double plated the lone run on the ledger of Webb.

Austin Peterson (SP, Akron): W (2-0), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, BB, 5 Ks, DP - The starts keep getting better for the right-hander Peterson as he went six shutout innings on Wednesday night to move to 2-0 in four appearances. Opponents are hitting just .162 off Peterson after he allowed just four hits in this game. He induced nine swings and misses and rolled a double play on the only time a runner was in scoring position without the aid of an error.

Michael Kennedy (SP, Lake County): W (1-0), 5.0 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BBs, 6 Ks, E1T FPO - The 20-year-old southpaw was outstanding in his start against Great Lakes on Wednesday. He allowed just one hit in five innings for his first win in the Guardians system on the mound. Nobody reached third base on Kennedy, however he did a great job of limiting damage when runners were 180 feet from home to keep the ball on the infield, despite his throwing error on a failed pickoff.

Dylan DeLucia (RP, Lake County): S (1), 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 4 Ks, PO - It’s hard enough to have one starter keep the shutout in tact during a piggyback start, but Lake County had both starters go bananas as DeLucia pitched a shutout as well. This was a much-needed performance after a rough first three appearances of 2025 for the former Ole Miss Rebel. He had to work around a little bit of traffic as well but helped his own cause with a successful pickoff attempt.
DeLucia

And some hitters:

CJ Kayfus (1B, Akron): 1-for-4, 2B, DP - Kayfus made it 15 straight games with a hit to begin 2025 with a double, the lone extra-base hit of the day for the RubberDucks.

Alfonsin Rosario (RF, Lake County): 2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBIs, GIDP - Rosario helped to give his pitching staff an early lead with a two-run homerun in the first, his fourth already on the year. He was the only man in the Captains’ lineup with multiple hits.

Jaison Chourio (CF, Lake County): 1-for-2, R, HR, RBI, 2 BBs - Chourio left the yard as well in the third inning of Wednesday’s win, the first homerun for the 19-year-old this season. He reached base three times in total, the fourth time he has done that in 2025.

Luis Morejo (1B, Lynchburg): 1-for-3, R, HR, 4 RBIs, 2 BBs, 2 E3Fs - A three-run homerun and a bases loaded walk tied the game and gave the Hillcats the lead late in the game on Wednesday for a team-high four RBIs, but an error gave one of those runs back. He reached base three times in the game in total and has an .883 OPS despite a .200 batting average.

Welbyn Francisca (SS, Lynchburg): 2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, BB, SB, E6T - The 18-year-old has his second multi-hit game in the last three. It was an eventful day with an RBI double, a walk, a stolen base and an error on his resume.

And CJ remains on the Baseball America radar:

C.J. Kayfus, 1B, Guardians: The Guardians 2023 third-rounder enjoyed one of the biggest breakout seasons of 2024 when he hit .291/.393/.512 with 17 home runs over 107 games at two levels. Kayfus returned to Double-A to begin 2025 and entered Wednesday night's game hitting .434/.524/.698 with a 14-game hitting streak to open his season. He got it out of the way early on Wednesday, hitting a double in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games -- and it actually runs to 17 if you include the final two games of 2024 with Akron. Kayfus has an advanced hit tool, average raw power and a knack for finding good angles off the bat. He’s one of the best first base prospects in the minors and one of the hottest hitters to begin 2025.

I expect Kayfus and Peterson [also returning to Akron after a half season in AA] to be in Columbus before I return home from a vacation May 7.