Cleveland Sports Forum

from the Athletic

Twenty underrated MLB prospects off to fast starts: Matt Wilkinson, Jonah Tong and more

Below are 20 players who weren’t ranked among their organization’s top-10 prospects at the start of the season but are off to notable starts, beginning with a left-hander in the Guardians organization who has earned a significant online following with a strong April.

Note: Players are listed in no particular order. The information in the parentheses indicates where they were ranked, if applicable, on their organization’s top-20 list coming into the season.

Matt Wilkinson, LHP, Cleveland Guardians (not ranked): Wilkinson is a 6-foot-1, 270-pound left-hander from British Columbia who went to Central Arizona Junior College and has the nickname “Tugboat.” Even if Wilkinson wasn’t pitching like a young Clayton Kershaw, we probably should have been talking about him, but the fact that he is dominating in historic fashion makes him the perfect person to kick off this piece.

Wilkinson was Cleveland’s 10th-round pick last year out of Central Arizona, where he had a 1.38 ERA and struck out 221 batters in 137 innings over two seasons. He threw only one inning in his pro debut last year, so this is the first we are really getting to see Wilkinson in pro ball. The results have been dazzling. On Thursday, he threw six hitless innings for Low-A Lynchburg, striking out 15 of the 19 batters he faced. Lest you think that was a fluky outing, Wilkinson came into that start having allowed just one run in 14 2/3 innings with 24 strikeouts.

Wilkinson arrived in pro ball with an above-average spin rate on his low-90s fastball, [that's more than BA noted in their predraft anaylsis] which he commands extremely well. He also features a changeup and slider, both of which he can throw for strikes. He turned 21 in December but it may not be much longer before the Guardians see if he can plow through rougher waters in High A.

HOUSTON -- Much of the attention has gone to the Guardians’ offense this year, but the spotlight is starting to turn toward the pitching staff.

The bullpen has been excellent, aside from some hiccups over the past three games. After Tuesday's series opener in Houston, the group had the best ERA in the Majors (2.49). Cleveland's relievers took on a hefty workload in the first month, but they were able to keep the offense in contention night after night.

But then, there’s the rotation. Some nights, it looks like the starters of Cleveland’s past. Others, the Guardians are struggling to get their starting pitcher through the fourth or fifth inning. Without Shane Bieber and Gavin Williams, and with little pitching depth behind the current five starters, this is quickly becoming the biggest liability on the club.

Let’s hear what pitching coach Carl Willis has to say about the state of the staff.

Topic: The starting rotation

The skinny: Only five of the Guardians’ 29 games this year have featured a Cleveland starter pitching at least six innings (two of those belong to Bieber).

The quote:

“They’re obviously aware, and while we’re trying to address it, we’re not trying to put too much pressure on them. The last thing we want them to do is to press. … At the end of the day, yeah, we miss Shane, we miss Gavin, but our guys that are here can get this job done. They just need to be the best version of themselves and not try to take pressure to, ‘I've got to replace Shane.’ We’re not looking for that.”

Topic: Triston McKenzie


The skinny: The Guardians needed McKenzie to rediscover his 2022 form after missing almost all of last year due to injuries, but it’s taken him some time to get rolling. His velocity has been down a tick and he hasn’t been as unhittable as he has been in the past.

The quote:

“I really was encouraged by his last outing. I know we took him out of the game after four innings and 75 pitches, but his fastball, that was the best fastball we’ve seen out of Triston in a long time, just in terms of the profile, the [vertical movement], the ride he was getting. And then he worked the curveball right off it. His slider was good. … It was a very encouraging outing, not only for us but I think in Triston’s mind as well.”

Topic: James Karinchak

The skinny:

Karinchak has been out since the start of Spring Training, when he reported to camp with right shoulder fatigue. He’s been with the team for the past few games, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll stay for much longer.

The quote:

“We thought it’d be good for James to be back around the club, for us to get a chance to see him, for our training staff. … He’s going with us to Houston for a couple days to just have us see him throw. He looks really good. He’s moving well. His arm’s moving well. Then he’ll go back to Arizona on Tuesday or Wednesday evening to continue his progression.”

Topic: Ben Lively


The skinny:

It’s only been three outings since he came off the IL, but Lively has been everything the Guardians could’ve asked for. His velocity isn’t overwhelming, but he’s been able to record outs.


The quote:

“He’s not going to beat himself. I do think, from a delivery standpoint, from his approach angle, there’s a lot of deception with the fastball. And one of things he’s done a really good job of since Spring Training is really solidifying the consistency of his slot with all of his pitches. So now all of a sudden that slider is coming right out of the same window of the fastball. … That’s something that, to a certain extent, you can create deception with your delivery, but other areas of it [are] kind of God-given a little bit. I think just his confidence in who he is and what he does, and not trying to do more is really beneficial for him.”

Topic: Scott Barlow’s escape


The skinny:

The Guardians couldn’t have defeated the Braves on Saturday without Barlow’s Houdini act in the 10th. He intentionally walked the first batter to put an opponent on first behind the automatic runner at second. A single to left loaded the bases with no outs. But a forceout at the plate, a strikeout and another groundout allowed Barlow to escape unscathed.


The quote:

“I don’t know if I can really tell you that,” Willis said with a laugh when asked what was going through his mind during the jam.

“I think that it goes back to that experience. … He knows how to not beat himself and keep the pressure on the guy in the batter’s box. You can’t say enough about what he did [on Saturday]. I mean, that was absolutely phenomenal.”

Last week,

José Ramírez moved into a tie for sixth place on the Guardians’ all-time leaderboard with his sixth grand slam, alongside Andre Thornton and Rocky Colavito. Who holds first place?

A) Albert Belle
B) Travis Hafner
C) Al Rosen
D) Manny Ramirez

IN THE NEWS

• Mike Trout was emotional on Tuesday, as the news broke that he needed to undergo knee surgery.

• The Guardians have always struggled to contain José Abreu, but they won’t have to face him in Houston this week, as Abreu was optioned to the Minors to work through his offensive struggles.

TRIVIA ANSWER

D) Manny Ramirez

Ramirez hit 13 grand slams with Cleveland.

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Stephen Vogt standing pat with bullpen hand: Guardians takeaways

Updated: May. 01, 2024, 9:53 p.m.|Published: May. 01, 2024, 8:42 p.m.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

HOUSTON -- The Guardians, following their third straight extra-inning game on Tuesday, stayed with the same eight-man bullpen entering the middle game of a three-game series against the Astros on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park.

“We’re taking it day by day,” said Vogt. “We have enough coverage for the game tonight. We feel good about what we have.”

The Guardians played 11 innings on Saturday, 10 on Sunday and 10 more on Tuesday following Monday’s off day.

Cleveland relievers Scott Barlow, Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis and Nick Sandlin are tied for second in the American League in appearances with 16 each. The Guards pen has thrown the second most innings in the league at 119 1/3.

“Our guys are resilient,” said Vogt. “They’ve been throwing a ton. We know it’s early. We’re considering all those factors (adding a fresh arm).

“We check with them. We make sure they’re feeling 100% that they can go. We’re never going to throw anyone out there who feels too taxed.”

Vogt said serving as Seattle’s bullpen coach last year before he was hired as the Guardians manager helped him understand how relievers think and operate.

“The more you communicate with them, the better it’s going to be.”

Moving parts

Right-hander Eli Morgan, after throwing a bullpen session Tuesday, will start his rehab assignment this weekend with Triple-A Columbus. He’s been on the injured list with a sore right shoulder since April 17.

Lefty Sam Hentges threw two scoreless innings for Columbus on Wednesday night. He retired six of the seven men he faced on what was believed to be his final rehab appearance. The Guardians could activate him in the next few days.

Right-hander Gavin Williams, like Hentges on the IL since the start of the season, was re-evaluated by the medical staff Wednesday. He received a cortisone injection in his sore right elbow last week.

“We should know more on Thursday,” said Vogt.

Decisions, decisions

Vogt was asked about how he decides to use Clase in tie games.

Against Atlanta on Saturday, Clase pitched the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2 and Atlanta’s second, third and fourth hitters due to bat. He retired them in order as the Guardians went on to win 4-2 in 11 innings.

Against Atlanta on Sunday, Clase started the 10th with the score tied, 3-3, and Atlanta’s second, third and fourth hitters due to bat. He allowed a game-winning single to Austin Riley in a 4-3 loss.

Tuesday night against the Astros, Clase started the ninth with the score tied, 8-8. The Astros had their third, fourth and fifth hitters due to bat. Clase allowed a hit, but held Houston scoreless.

“A lot of it is where they’re at in the order,” said Vogt. “Tuesday night they had three, four and five coming up. That’s the game. If you don’t get through that inning, you’re not getting to the 10th.

“We emptied the clip in the bullpen. We knew we had (Hunter) Gaddis for the 10th, who is more of a strikeout pitcher (with the automatic runner on second). Clase is our closer. I’m going to use him in save situations. But on the road I look more at where they’re at in the lineup and what are the best matchups for our pitchers.”

Camp time

Andres Gimenez will hold his annual Baseball Procamp on July 17 at Lutheran West High School. Boy and girls from first grade through eighth grade are invited to attend to learn baseball fundamentals from Gimenez.

Each participant will receive a team photo, souvenir autograph, and camp jersey. For more information go to AndresGimenezCamp.com.

Fire down below

Kyle Manzardo, Micah Pries and Daniel Schneeman homered as Class AAA Columbus beat Toledo, 7-6, in 10 innings Tuesday. They won it with a run in the bottom of the 10th. Peter Strzelecki (1-0, 2.57) pitched the 10th for the win. . .

Tommy Mace (3-1, 2.45) struck out six in six scoreless innings as Class AA Akron beat Richmond, 3-0. Jack Leftwich earned his third save. Kahlill Green homered and Yordys Valdez went 2 for 3 with an RBI. .

.Jose Devers went 3 for 4 and scored the game’s only run as Class A Lake County beat Fort Wayne, 1-0, in 10 innings. Austin Peterson pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts and one walk.

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The Guardians Bullpen Needs Help

Help should be on the way for the Guardians ‘pen soon...and they need it

By Matt_Seese May 2, 2024, 9:00am EDT


Coming into 2024, the talk of the town was starting pitching. Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen. That’s as strong as a 1-through-5 as you were set to find in the bigs. Unfortunately, we never even saw this turn through the rotation once this season. Instead, Bieber is done, Gavin hasn’t pitched, and it’s been a mix and match combo of Sticks trying to return to form (which appears to be happening!), a struggling Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, the emergence of Ben Lively, and the aging Carlos Carrasco giving up all too many runs.

Needless to say, bullpen is taxed. After last night, the Guardians have asked their bullpen to get the second-most outs in the American League, sitting at 119.1 innings, behind only Tampa Bay’s 123.1. A lot of this, of course, is largely due in part to the aforementioned health of their starting pitching. In terms of innings from starters, Cleveland is nearly bottom of the barrel. The only team with fewer than Cleveland’s 147 starting pitching innings is Houston with 146.

The natural reaction to this might be why not try different starters? Well, what was seen as a place of depth before the season has seen Shane Bieber go down for the year, Gavin Williams battle a non-ligament elbow issue that’s kept him out up to this point in the season, and Triston McKenzie battle his way through working his way back to normal after his own elbow issue last season. It’s not just at the major league level, either. Joey Cantillo strained his hamstring after an eye-opening Spring, Doug Nikhazy is on the injured list with an oblique strain, and Daniel Espino once again won’t pitch for an entire season due to his shoulder injury. Needless to say, the help is not on the way for them.

Where there is help, however, is in the bullpen. Despite being overworked, there are arms who can help this ailing crew get some needed rest and return to their elite form they had to start the season, and hopefully we see them soon. Let’s meet them.

Sam Hentges has a real shot at being back this weekend at the soonest. Rehabbing from swelling on his middle finger on his pitching hand, Hentges has essentially been given an extended Spring Training down in Columbus. The clamoring for Hentges, from myself included, should be met with some bit of caution. While we’ve seen how good Hentges can be. Left shoulder issues combined with poor results made 2023 a bit of a lost year for Hentges, but in his most recent rehab start in Columbus, he was back up towards 95 mph on his fastball, as his velo has ticked up with each appearance for the Clippers this season.

Hentges has excelled at generating groundballs despite his down year, inducing grounders on 57.7% of balls put in play against him. The key will be Hentges generating lighter contact. In 2022, Hentges allowed an average exit velocity of 88.8 mph. In 2023, it was well up, sitting at 91.5 mph, one of the worst marks in the majors.

A bounceback for Hentges would add a major lefty arm for the back end of the bullpen, and it would allow Stephen Vogt to ease Hunter Gaddis out of his late inning role while he figures his problems out.

Franco Aleman absolutely dominated Double-A last season to the tune of a 0.00 ERA in 24 appearances. From there, despite a slow start, he’s continued his strong pitching in Triple-A Columbus this season, throwing 7.0 scoreless innings in a row with 12 strikeouts. Aleman gets tremendous extension at 6-foot-6, 235 pounds, which helps his average fastball and sinker velocity play above 95 mph.

Aleman’s fastball generates 16.8 inches of iVB (induced vertical break), above the major league average on a fastball in 2024 (16.1), but his “sinker” is very interesting. The average sinker from relievers in the majors this season sees 7.1 inches of iVB and 2163 RPMs (revolutions per minute) with 15.3 inches of horizontal break. Aleman’s sinker clocks in at 15.3 iVB and 2445 RPMs with 13.1 inches of horizontal break. Just watching it, it moves a lot more like your traditional 2-seamer as it has just 15.6 inches of downward break compared to MLB’s reliever average of 24.5 inches, but between it and his 4-seam fastball, Aleman relies heavily on the gas, throwing a variant of the fastball over 82% of the time, and it’s proven to be very overwhelming for opposing hitters. At the pace he’s on, Aleman’s forecast to the majors could be a lot sooner than later.

Andrew Walters The worst part about Double-A is not having any Statcast data to use. That being said, Andrew Walters has been nothing short of dominant in his first professional season in Akron, striking out 54% of batters faced with an 0.79 ERA. Coming out of Miami, the book on Walters was that he dominated primarily with the fastball with a slider mixed in on occasion, and not much has changed thus far. His heater sits around 95-96 and flirts with 100 at times with ride, and he has shown solid command. Walters might be a bit of a long shot seeing as he was just drafted last July, but if the debut as well as early returns in Akron say anything, the organization is clearly high on him with a quick acceleration path through the minors very likely.

Peter Strzelecki was acquired by Cleveland via trade after Arizona DFA’d him this offseason. We’ve seen a bit of Strzelecki in Cleveland this season, and all he’s done at any level this year is make hitters look foolish. With a release point and overall mechanics somewhere between Nick Sandlin and Craig Kimbrel, Strzelecki’s stuff has been his calling card from day one.

Using Thomas Nestico’s (@TJStats on Twitter) tjStuff+ model, Strzelecki’s slider grades out at 118 where 100 is league average, which is among the best. Strzelecki’s biggest hitch has always been walks. You hear it all the time. Great stuff, poor command. That being said, his walk rate is down below 4%, a career best at any level where he’s thrown at least 10 innings. His slider is a legitimate weapon, and I think there’s real palpable growth here for a middle innings guy.

Another great bit on Strzelecki I found was that he just added his sinker last season. Detailed in this article from Jack Stern of Brew Crew Ball, Strzelecki adopted the sinker and fell a little too in love with it at times, throwing it too much especially when he gets behind in counts, abandoning his swing-and-miss stuff at times. With Columbus, however, Strzelecki has seemed to find a happy medium. He’s been fastball/slider heavy (42.7% fastball, 35% slider), mixing in his sinker around 13% of the time to help induce weak contact. His changeup has proven to also induce a ton of chase, sitting at an 85.7% chase rate despite only finding itself in the zone less than 40% of the time.

Strzelecki is the most intriguing of the arms here to me, largely because I think you can lock him into the middle innings and not budge off of him all season. His stuff plays, and the big worry that had been his command has not been an issue in Columbus at all. It’s high time to get him back and traveling with the big league club.

Outside of replacing Cookie’s spot in the rotation with more starts for Xzavion Curry, the starting rotation isn’t likely to change much any time soon. With the bullpen, however, this team is going to have to make the most of their resources, and they have plenty to choose from. Above were a handful of names ready to come in and help, and that doesn’t even include riskier arms like Anthony Gose and, of course, James Karinchak. It seems a lot more likely that help is on the way sooner for the bullpen than anywhere else on the team, but if there’s a unit that can carry the Guardians into the Summer, it’s the ‘pen.

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Steven Kwan Is Quickly Becoming A Star Talent

May 2, 2024

By Andres Chavez

@andres_chavez13

he Cleveland Guardians have won 20 of their first 30 games this year in MLB.

They look like bona fide contenders, which is kind of surprising considering their rather inactive offseason.

There is no one like Cleveland to develop its own talent and unearth some gems, though, so it shouldn’t come as such a shock.

One of these talented players carrying the team to a hot start is left fielder Steven Kwan.

Since he doesn’t have much in the way of game power, he often goes unnoticed in discussions about the best players in the league.

However, Kwan can do almost everything else well.

He is a premier leadoff hitter, boasting a .360 batting average and a .403 OBP as of Thursday afternoon.

He is also very fast and smart, and is among the league leaders in runs scored with 27.

One of the most underrated aspects of his game, however, is defense.

On Wednesday night, he won the game for the Guardians.

“Steven Kwan gives the Guardians the lead in the top of the tenth, then lays out and doubles up Victor Caratini to end the game!,” Talkin’ Baseball tweeted.

Steven Kwan gives the Guardians the lead in the top of the tenth, then lays out and doubles up Victor Caritini to end the game!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1785863969120387408

The game was 3-2 in favor of the Guardians, with the Houston Astros hitting in the bottom of the tenth with the ghost runner at second and one out.

Mauricio Dubon hit a soft liner toward shallow left field, but Kwan made a terrific read and jump to get to the ball before it found the grass.

Since Caratini was already near third base, all Kwan had to do was throw the ball to second baseman Andres Gimenez, who stepped on the base and got the last out.

Kwan is a two-time Gold Glover and perhaps the best left fielder in baseball.

Caratini made a mistake, and paid for it.

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Kwan is a two-time Gold Glover and perhaps the best left fielder in baseball.

Defensively, the "perhaps" is unnecessary.
Overall so many LF's are sluggers that he's hard to compare.
But we all love him

If I had the $ to throw around and owned the team, I'd sign him ASAP to a 10 year top of the market deal.
But I think he'll be especially hard to sign: Kwan is a very intelligent young man who I'm sure understands his value on the open market.
Getting big salary boosts NOW for his pre free agency years will be the only way to secure his future with Cleveland

#Guardians transactions

RHP Peter Strzelecki recalled from Columbus

RHP Tyler Beede designated for assignment

Guardians Designate Tyler Beede For Assignment
By Steve Adams | May 3, 2024 at 2:41pm CDT

The Guardians designated right-hander Tyler Beede for assignment Friday and recalled fellow right-hander Peter Strzelecki from Triple-A Columbus in a corresponding move, Mandy Bell of MLB.com tweets.

The 30-year-old Beede (31 later this month) signed a minor league deal over the winter and won a spot in Cleveland’s Opening Day bullpen with a nice spring showing. He’s been hit hard through his first 14 regular-season innings, however, yielding 13 runs on 16 hits, nine walks and three hit batters. He’s fanned 18 opponents, giving him a nice 26.5% strikeout rate, but a poor 13.2% walk rate and a lofty 44.7% hard-hit rate have overshadowed his ability to miss bats.

Beede spent the 2023 season with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, for whom he posted a 3.99 ERA in 49 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. A former first-round pick by the Giants back in 2014, the Vanderbilt product was a top prospect but has seen his career stall out — in part due to injuries (most notably, Tommy John surgery). He’s pitched 201 innings in the majors and been dinged for a 5.55 ERA with worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates of 19.6% and 10%, respectively.

Between MLB stints, Beede has rather dramatically overhauled his pitching repertoire. His initial MLB run saw him use primarily a four-seamer, changeup and curveball, but the 2024 version of Beede is brandishing a four-seamer, splitter and sinker in addition to his breaking ball (which FanGraphs classifies as a slider but Statcast considers a curveball). Beede didn’t throw a single splitter from 2018-22, but it’s been his most heavily used pitch in 2024. It’s been hit hard when put into play, but Beede has also missed tons of bats with the pitch (16.8% swinging-strike rate).

The Guardians will have a week to trade Beede, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him. He’d be able to reject an outright assignment to Columbus even if he ends up clearing waivers.

Not sure why they don't want to add Hentges. I'm sure they'll get around to him soon.

Guardians’ top prospect has broken bone in foot, further evaluation planned
Updated: May. 05, 2024, 1:15 p.m.|Published: May. 05, 2024, 11:09 a.m.
Chase DeLauter
Guardians top prospect Chase DeLauter has a broken bone in his left foot and will seek further medical evaluation on May 8.Diamond Images/Getty Images





By Joe Noga, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guardians top prospect Chase DeLauter will be sidelined after suffering an injury to his left foot while running the bases in a minor league game April 25.

Cleveland announced DeLauter, the club’s top draft pick out of James Madison in 2022, will meet with specialist Dr. Robert Anderson on Wednesday for further evaluation.

0:01

A scan revealed DeLauter has a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot, the same foot upon which Anderson performed surgery in January of 2023.


Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said DeLauter will miss developmental reps and at-bats while he is out.

“What we see with Chase, he’s got incredible ability,” Antonetti said. “Hopefully when he is back healthy he can shorten that developmental timeframe as much as possible and continue his development and become major league option for us.”

DeLauter, ranked Cleveland’s No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline and exited Akron’s Double-A game at Altoona after complaining of pain in the foot while running the bases. Over the next few days, the 22-year-old outfielder continued to experience symptoms during baseball activity.

Anderson will conduct a clinical assessment and review treatment options. The Guardians will announce further details about DeLauter’s recovery plan after the appointment.


DeLauter was the surprise of spring training, appearing in 13 games and hitting .520 with four home runs, 10 RBI and a 1.640 OPS while not officially on the big league camp roster.

This was on the heels of an All-Star stint in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .299 with a .914 OPS in 87 at-bats.

DeLauter got off to a slow start, however, after opening the season in Akron where he hit .197 with 13 strikeouts and nine walks in 61 at-bats over 16 games.


Fana

Guardians’ Steven Kwan on hamstring injury: ‘It’s not something to be optimistic about’
Updated: May. 05, 2024, 10:39 a.m.|Published: May. 04, 2024, 10:36 p.m.


By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Left fielder Steven Kwan, his left leg wrapped above the knee, talked to reporters after Saturday night’s 7-1 win by the Guardians over the Angels.

Kwan, the Guardians two-time Gold Glove left fielder, left the game after three innings with a tight left hamstring. He’ll have an MRI on Sunday to determine the seriousness of the injury.

“We’ll know more on Sunday,” said manager Stephan Vogt.



Kwan went into the game leading the American League in batting average, hits and runs. As the Guardians’ leadoff hitter he has performed at an All-Star level. To lose him -- hamstring injuries usually take between four and six weeks to heal -- would be a blow to the AL Central leaders.

“I’ve had a history of hamstring issues before,” said Kwan. “We’re just trying to keep it safe.”




Asked if he was concerned, “A hamstring (injury) is always concerning. Especially with my history. It’s not something to be optimistic about, but we’ll see.

“It feels OK now, but Sunday will be the big day. We’ll see how sore it is. We’ll see

Kwan said he’s had hamstring injuries in college at Oregon State and in his four-year stay in the minors with Cleveland. He’s never been on the injured list since making Cleveland’s starting lineup coming out of spring training in 2021.

“I’ve had little ones here and there on both legs,” said Kwan. “It’s a hamstring thing, Hamstrings always pops up.”

If Kwan has to go on the injured list, the Guardians have some options to replace him.

They could promote first base prospect Kyle Manzardo and use Gabriel Arias, Estevean Florial or Ramon Laureano in left field. Arias replaced Kwan when he left the game Saturday. Then Will Brennan came on as a defensive replacement.




They might also add Myles Straw, their starting center fielder for the last 2 1/2 years. The Guardians outrighted him to Class AAA Columbus in spring training. They owe him $9.25 million.

Kwan, who walked and popped up before leaving Saturday’s game, said he felt the hamstring tighten when he caught a fly ball off the bat of Mickey Moniak near the left field foul line to start the third inning.

In 32 games, he’s hitting .353 (47 for 133) with 28 runs, three homers and 11 RBI.


As for who might replace Kwan in the leadoff spot from the current roster, Brayan Rocchio or Andres Gimenez would probably get a look.

Zack Meisel
@ZackMeisel
·
3m
Source: The Guardians are expected to add Kyle Manzardo to the roster on Monday, with Steven Kwan landing on the 10-day IL

DeLauter has fractured the same foot 3 times in 3 seasons. That does not sound at all good.

Guardians To Promote Kyle Manzardo, Place Steven Kwan On 10-Day Injured List
By Mark Polishuk | May 5, 2024 at 3:35pm CDT

The Guardians will promote slugging prospect Kyle Manzardo prior to tomorrow’s game with the Tigers, according to The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (X link). Cleveland has an open space on its 40-man roster to add Manzardo, and the 26-man space will be created when outfielder Steven Kwan is placed on the 10-day injured list.

Kwan left Saturday’s game due to hamstring tightness and was set to undergo an MRI today. The results of the tests aren’t yet known, but even if the MRI is clean, the Guards might’ve felt it necessary to sideline Kwan anyway given his long history of hamstring problems. As Kwan explained to reporters (including Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer) yesterday, he has battled hamstring issues both in the minors and during his college days.

Losing Kwan for any amount of time is a blow to the Guardians, as his huge early-season performance has fueled Cleveland’s rise to first place in the AL Central. Kwan is hitting .353/.407/.496 over 145 plate appearances, leading the American League in both batting average and hits (47). Some regression is inevitable since Kwan has a .370 BABIP and has continued to make some of the weakest contact of any hitter in baseball, but the Guards were happy to ride that offensive wave for as long as possible. In addition to this surge at the plate, Kwan has also been delivering his customary superb left field defense, and looks like a favorite to win his third straight Gold Glove.

Will Brennan got the start in left field today, but the Guardians will probably keep the Brennan/Ramon Laureano platoon going in right field and address Kwan’s absence by using Estevan Florial a bit more regularly in left. Florial has gotten the bulk of DH at-bats for Cleveland this season, yet the team will now need the designated hitter spot as a way to get Manzardo (who only plays first base) and Josh Naylor in the lineup at the same time. Gabriel Arias and David Fry also figure to get some playing time in the corner outfield in certain situations.


A second-round pick for the Rays in the 2021 draft, Manzardo came to Cleveland at last year’s trade deadline in the one-for-one swap that sent Aaron Civale to Tampa Bay. Manzardo’s minor league numbers had already drawn him top-100 prospect attention prior to the trade, and he has only gotten better since joining the Guardians organization. Manzardo is hitting .303/.375/.642 with nine home runs over 128 PA with Triple-A Columbus this season, and while the Guards chose to start him at Triple-A rather than add him to their Opening Day roster, it only seemed like a matter of time before Manzardo made his MLB debut.

MLB Pipeline ranked Manzardo 52nd on its list of the sport’s top 100 prospects, and Baseball America has him 87th. (For lists released prior to the season, The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Manzardo 66th and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel had him 83rd.) The consensus is clear — Manzardo’s bat is definitely ready for the big leagues, though the 23-year-old might already be ticketed for a DH-only future even in a world where Cleveland didn’t have Naylor locking down first base. Manzardo is viewed as a decent first baseman at best, and his lack of speed makes him an implausible choice to play outfield.

At the plate, however, Manzardo is a threat. He both makes a lot of hard contact and a lot of contact in general, befitting the Guardians’ preference for hitters who rarely strike out. Manzardo has 50 home runs over his 990 PA in the minors, and there is some sense that he might be able to unlock more power given how well-developed his approach is in the batter’s box.

This is music to the ears of a Guardians team that has long been lacking in power, though Cleveland’s offense has been greatly improved in the early going this season. Naylor has been a big contributor to that more dangerous lineup, but since Naylor is a free agent after the 2025 season, there has been a sense that Manzardo might well be the heir apparent at first base. Cleveland’s history of trading pricier players prior to free agency could make Naylor a big trade chip this coming offseason, so while a nice showing from Manzardo in his rookie season would certainly help the Guardians’ chances in 2024, it might have the Catch-22 of also hastening Naylor’s eventual departure.

Even if he stays on the Guards’ roster for the rest of the season, Manzardo won’t earn quite enough service time for a full season of MLB service. As a result, he wouldn’t garner the Guardians an extra draft pick under the Prospect Promotion Incentive even if he had a top-two finish in Rookie Of The Year voting. It is possible Manzardo might earn Super Two status and an extra year of arbitration eligibility if he garners enough service time over his first three seasons, though we won’t know that answer until the 2026 season is complete.

Something Looks Off With Jose Ramirez, Guardians Opinion

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez currently has a walk rate of 5.6% which is the lowest of his career.

TOMMY WILD 9 HOURS AGO

Jose Ramirez will always be one of baseball’s most feared hitters. There’s a reason he was voted as one of the game’s most underrated players by his peers.

However, Ramirez is off to an abnormal start to the season for the Cleveland Guardians. It usually takes some time for him to get going as his career batting average in April is just .265. But the strikeouts and lack of walks point to something being off with Ramirez’s overall game.

J-Ram currently has a K% of 11.2 which is about his career average. But his walk rate of 5.6% is easily the lowest we’ve from Ramirez over the last 10 years.

What makes all of this odder is that the Guardians lineup has actually done a good job producing runs which means Ramirez shouldn’t feel the need to do too much for his team to win. It doesn’t make sense for him to be as aggressive as he has been.

Another oddity for Ramirez is that he has an OBP of .208 when the pitcher gets ahead. One of his strengths is being able to work counts to his favor. For example, when J-Ram has an OBP of .285 the count gets a count back to even, and a .240 OBP when the pitcher gets ahead.

Another area of concern with Ramirez is plate discipline with swinging at quality pitches. He currently has a O-Swing% of 38.1%, the highest of his career. J-Ram has a career percentage of 27.6% in this category.

His plate awareness is what makes Ramirez such a great hitter.

Stephen Vogt acknowledged Ramirez’s struggles and at times bad luck to start the season. This is what he said regarding J-Ram’s first month of 2024.

“I think just like anybody else, you’ve got to stick with your process,” said Vogt. “That’s the thing with Josey. No matter if he’s getting hits or not he’s the same guy every day and going out there with the same mindset, same approach, and he just continues to hit the ball hard”

Ramirez has earned the benefit of the doubt considering his career track record. It’s certainly concerning to see some of these underlying numbers, but we’ve all seen how fast J-Ram has the ability to get hot. That’s only going to happen if he sticks with his approach and is a little more patient at the plate.

“He’s going to continue to do what he does and be himself.”

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