and for Lynchburg, Velazquez double and two walks; Chourio nothing; Genao didn't play

some highlights from Friday and Saturday

Relievers in Akron:
Walters 1 1/3 1 walk 3 strikeouts 1.37
Torres 2 innings no one on base 2 strikeouts 0.00

Hitter in Eastlake
Saturday besides Kwan: Catcher Cooper Inlge hit a grand slam and a single; he's now up to 330/894
Jake Fox single triple walk, stats crawling upward: 205/649
Friday: Furman yet another homer [7 all in May] and 2 singles; takes over the league lead at 359 OPS is 955
Kayfus double single walk 331/1002
And a great pitching performance by Parker MessicK; 6 2 0 0 1 10

Teenage stars for Lynchburg:
On Friday:
Genao 2 singles and 2 walks and 3 steals
Clemmey 5 innings no runs 1 hit 1 walk 5 strikeouts
On Saturday:
Velazquez homer single 2 walks 271/852
Genao 3 singles one steal 335/902
Chourio 3 doubles one single 290/836

And for Columbus:
Friday and Saturday:
Tena homers, singles, walks then doubles 280/751
Schneemann 2 walks Friday, nothing Saturday 302/1012
Brito 2 walks Friday single Saturday 226/773
Valera, remember our big star of the future? For the 2 days 0-8 with a walk 164/604. Gets a bit worse every year:
2021 260/405/505/910
2022: 250/353/463/816
2023: 220/349/397/746
2024: 164/291/313/604

Sunday early games:

Lynchburg wins 9-4; Lake county wins 7-6

Genao hit his 6th homer, 11th double, drew a walk. 340 avg 932 OPS for 20 year old SS who's on his second round in Low A
Velazquez 2 singles and a walk: clearly not a HR or K guy. 144 AB 26 walks 34 strikeouts 7 homers 8 doubles 18 year old 1B
Choruio walk and sac fly 134 AB 31 walks exceeds his 27 strikeouts 10 doubles 2 homers: will the power come later for the just-turned-19 CF?
22 year old Knapszyk 2 singles 272 779 OPS
Esteban Gonzalez 21 year old OF steal single 2 walks 279.809 12walks 35 strikeouts: that's not good enough for a non-power hitter

the offensive minded Captains led today my Alex Mooney's grandslam. 7th homer; also made 2 errors
Furman 0-3 with a walk
Kayfus 7th homer single walk 1B/LF hitting 338/1031.
some of these guys definitely belong in Akron: Furman played second half of 2023 at Lake County; he's had enough time here
Kayfus is a 2023 3rd round draft pick; There's no one of quality at 1B for Akron, so he deserves the promotion

Haven't seen a word in weeks about DeLauter's return. The same fracture 3 times in 3 years is very concerning. George Valera's repeatedly broken hand is presumably the explanation for why he can no longer hit

Without DeLauter Akron has no offense; they were shutout twice Sunday depsite good pitching by Ryan Webb and Aaron Davenport.
No one hitting over 250.
I'd assume that some of the 300+ hitters at Lake County are on their way.

DeLauter is cleared to play and is expected to play for Akron this week.

Good News!

2 Guardians on the Hot Prospect list this week:

11. Angel Genao, SS, Guardians
Team: Low-A Lynchburg (Carolina)
Age: 20

Why He’s Here: .409/.480/.591 (9-for-22), 3 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 3 BB, 1 SO, 5-for-5 SB

The Scoop: After a down season in 2023 that was hampered by a knee injury, Genao is beginning to fulfill the promise he showed in 2022 in the Arizona Complex League. The 20-year-old shortstop has shown a budding power-speed combo that has evaluators’ full attention. His .350 average is third in the Carolina League, his .547 slugging percentage is second and his 54 hits are tops on the circuit, while his 19 extra-base hits are tied for the most in the CL.

19. C.J. Kayfus, 1B, Guardians
Team: High-A Lake County (Midwest)
Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .579/.636/.947 (11-for-19) 8 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 3 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS.

The Scoop: Kayfus’ batting average climbed above .300 on the third day of the season. It’s yet to dip below it again. Kayfus has been one of the keys to an exceptional Lake County offense. He ranks fourth in the league in batting, but is third on his own team. In a move that will be useful for helping him reach the majors, Kayfus is starting to play nearly as much left field as he does first base. His bat will be key to getting him to the majors, but adding a plausible second position will give him more opportunities

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro

DeLauter was scheduled to go 5 innings. Ran into a wall chasing a foul ball and came up limping a bit. Walked in his next AB then was removed two batters later for pinch runner.

Guardians Prospective
@CleGuardPro

Update on DeLauter:

Chase DeLauter had an x-ray on the opposite toe that he had fractured previously after last night's game for Akron. The x-rays came back negative. He is day-to-day as for when he will play his next game.

It would be nice if he thought about the risk involved of running into a wall. Here we go again.

Akron managed 2 hits and 2 runs but didn't lose until the 10th when Lenny Torres with a 0.00 ERA had his first disaaster of the season, walking 3 and allowing 2 runs

Awful Columbus pitching in full view again, losing 12-3. Lots of nobodies in the rotation; the bullpen is supposed to be better, but not yesterday:
Mikolajchak 2 walks 1 run in 1 1/3
Sabrowski 3 walks 2 runs in 1 2/3
Strzelecki 3 walks 4 runs in 1 1/3

Noel hit his 13th homer and 2 singles, up to 243 833 OPS
Valera 3 singles 202/673
Tena double single walk 284 775

Terrific Lake County offense in view again: 8-2 win on 13 hits.
Kayfus double single walk steal 343 1040
Ingle 2 doubles 2 walks 340 936
Mooney 2 singles 316 882
Devers homer double single 3 rbi 255 680
Lipscomb 3 walks steal 345 915
Dan Denhalm 5 2/3 4 1 1 1 4 3.16

Lynchburg kids are alright
Velazquez 2 doubles 282 878
Chourio single and walk and 2 steals 283 816
Genao double and walk and steal 337 931

checking daily for promotions from Lake County to Akron; reliever Alaska Abney got the call yesterday replacing Andrew Walters who moved on to Columbus.
He had a 1.08 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings this season. This was his 3rd season with Lake County; it's about time he moved on up.

Nothing however among the hitters.

Captains with an afternoon game and they're at it again with 5 runs in the first 3 innings; still stands at 5-2 after 6
Furman who had been quiet for a day or two with 2 hits; Devers who has been hot with 2; Mooney a single a walk and 2 steals [he's up to 16]; Inlge single and walk; Kayfus a walk

Austin Peterson 6 innings, 2 runs and 12 strikeouts; last time out 7 2/3 shutout and 8 K; previous game 7 runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3.. Except for that game his season ERA is right at 2.00

Juan "can't pitch"Zapata enters to close the gap. He got an out; then a homer, two singles, and he departed with the Captains lead at 5-3 and tying runs on base.
I'm not sure of the allure of a 25 year old in A ball with a career ERA of 4.68 and about 6 strikeouts per nine innings.

Ellerts got the final outs, one of the baserunners scored, so Zapata ends the day with an ERA of 8.66
He is the fellow you probably don't recall who blew several large leads in spring training for the Guardians.