Cleveland Sports Forum

Agree on the assessment of the Arizona contingent. Kody Huff is supposed to be a very good defensive catcher so he could become a big league backup. The pitchers are probably all relievers. Last year we sent Ryan Webb who had a good winter and followed it up with a solid summer and could be a candidate for the 40 man roster.

DeLauter of course is back there to get some at bats. He needs to find a way to play aggressively without forever injuring himself.

lest DeLauter's career develop as Valera's has. George used to be among our top 5 and baseball's top 100. He is forever getting hurt and taking longer than projected to recover. He started to hit well enough in August to appear a possible callup to Cleveland and then once again collided with a wall and this ruptured a tendon in his knee and is out "six to nine months" which probably shoots another season. I haven't kept track but he's nearing the end of his available minor league options without getting a minute in the major. Out of the G's top 10 already he might even be DFAd this winter if they need room for another prospect.
Perhaps he has a peripheral vision problem?

a review of breakout prosepcts this year included:

Luis Merejo, 1B, Guardians

What We Said: Dating back to last year’s showing in the Dominican Summer League, the data has popped for Merejo. After starting the season in the Arizona Complex League, Merejo got the bump to Low-A Lynchburg on July 30. Since that time, his results have been outstanding, as he’s shown bat-to-ball skills and power. Merejo’s 90th percentile exit velocity of 106.2 mph ranks in the 97th percentile of hitters and is in elite company among players 20 years of age or younger. It’s not just raw power either as Merejo has shown a consistent ability to get to his power in games and is doing so against older competitors. His is a name to watch in 2025 as a potential breakout.

What Happened: Merejo produced a fine season in the Arizona Complex League but really turned on the juice after promotion to Low-A Lynchburg toward year’s end. In the Carolina League, Merejo popped three home runs in 30 games, just one fewer than the total he produced in 47 games in the ACL.

Welcome back civ. Yeah underwhelmed by the AZ Fall league reps.

always possible there's another diamond in the rough reliever among those guys, but at present Franco Aleman at AAA is the next in line.
btw, I note that the pitcher they dealt for Alex the Blister is rated among the top pitchers in the Arizona summer league. Bresnahan has a long, long way to go before he proves himself one way or the other.
I recall we traded Jhon Torres [maybe that's not the right name?] a Rookie League or slugger to the Pirates when he was rated among the top prospects in the AZ Leauge. He was done before he hit AA.
On the other hand, there's Caminero.
Who knows

3 of our guys rank in BA's Top Dominican League Prospects:

16. Robert Arias, OF, Guardians
Cleveland’s DSL groups had plenty of interesting players, but Arias was the first name on scouts’ minds. The Dominican-born outfielder showed double-plus speed, which benefited him both in the outfield and on the base paths. He is an easy, athletic mover on defense, and evaluators believe he could one day be a plus defender in center field. Arias’ offensive numbers might not show it yet, but he has the skills to be a table-setter with a few tweaks to his game. All of his miss rates were less than 20%, but he’ll need to get the ball in the air a little bit more often to help him become the type of turn-and-burn player his tools suggest. Though Arias is not the biggest guy in the game, scouts pointed to the whippiness of his swing to project 45- or 50-grade power once he begins packing on extra strength.

21. Juneiker Caceres, OF, Guardians
Caceres was one of the youngest players in the league, not turning 17 until just three days before his season concluded. Nonetheless, he was one of just 21 qualified hitters to produce an OPS of better than .920. Despite his youth, scouts throughout the league pointed to a body without much in the way of remaining projection as a reason that Caceres might have more of a high floor than a high ceiling. He shows strong bat-to-ball skills with an aggressive, middle-away approach that could stand to add a little bit more pull-side contact into the mix. The lack of projection left in his body might limit his long-term power output, which might also lower his ceiling if he winds up in a corner outfield spot.

23. Gabriel Rodriguez, SS, Guardians
Rodriguez is the third Cleveland prospect on this list—not to mention the second shortstop with his name in his own system—and he earned his spot thanks to a .500 on-base percentage that placed second in the league. Scouts saw a player with a loose, level swing that should produce plenty of line drives although his power is unlikely to be better than below-average. Rodriguez has a strong knowledge of the strike zone, but he might need to be a tad more aggressive he moves up the ladder. He’s got a shot to stick at shortstop thanks to strong actions and instincts and enough arm for the left side.

Arizona league opened yesterday. Not a good sign that Chase The Foot was not in the lineup..
Tolentino played 2nd base and singled and walked
Allen Hernandez pitched 2 shutout innings of relief, one K one BB

today in Arizona, DeLauter DH singled and 2 rbi.
Tolentino at SS 1-5
Huff, for some reason playing 1st base [he's a catcher] 1-5
Abney and Misiaszek each a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts.

Baseball America interview with Cooper Inlge, our good hitting catcher. Not sure you can open it if you're not a member. Good luck,

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox ... SdpNGJbPlh

Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 10/9/24
Justin Lada
Oct 10






Scoreboard
Arizona Fall League: Surprise Saguaros 5, Peoria Javelinas 3
Guardians Prospects

Chase DeLauter (DH, Surprise): 1-4, RBI, BB - In his first game of his second AFL stint, DeLauter was the DH because he’s still not quite built back up enough from his hamstring injury and time missed to play the outfield. He did hit a ball 108.7 MPH off the bat in this one, but it wasn’t a hit. He also hit a ball 340 feet at 94 MPH, but that was a fly out. No, his RBI single was 80 MPH. Because, baseball. He also hit another ball 77 MPH for an out. He did draw a walk. His single did come off a lefty, after seeing three below average fastballs in the zone. Still, I’m not sure how much the results for DeLauter are going to matter here. You really just are looking for reps and playing and finishing the stint healthy from beginning to end. We know what DeLauter can do when he’s healthy and what he can’t do. He just simply needs to play and stay healthy.

Milan Tolentino (SS, Surprise): 1-5, 2 SB - Tolentino has two games so far in the AFL and has played both second and short. In this game he came up with two steals, which is nice. Impressively, he hit the ball hard three times (105, 101, 95) and also had a 67 and 57. His at bats seemed OK. He singled off the first pitch of his second at bat.

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Kody Huff (1B, Surprise): 1-5, K - Surprising that Huff played first in his first AFL action. He did hit two balls over 90 but Huff isn’t really known for his bat, though he skipped High-A this year, so getting reps is important for him.

Alaska Abney (RP, Surprise): IP, H, 2K - Good first AFL outing for Abney. It’s the first time were getting actual data on him. His sinker and cutter both were about 87-89, as expected. The slider has big spin and got two whiffs. You’re really hoping with Abney that it’s the angle. This reminds me some of Robert Broom years ago, where he never threw more than 90 but it was the big slider from the submarine angle. Broom didn’t work out, but Sandlin did, to mixed results anyway, because Sandlin threw 92-95 and added a splitter too. We’ll see on Abney. If the angles he creates can just baffle hitters then maybe he gets noticed but I don’t know if I see the stuff yet for a 40 man spot. They didn’t protect Kevin Kelly, who I think they should have, and his numbers and data were much better.

Andrew Misiaszek (RP, Surprise): IP, 2K - Misisazek is also kind of about angles too. He has deception throwing 91-92 with also good spin. It’s really about health for Misaszek too because he would have been in the majors by now if he had stayed healthy, however I think the stuff makes him a low end, up and down type lefty and it’s hard to crack the Cleveland bullpen these days.

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Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 10/11/24
Arthur Kinney
Oct 12


Arizona Fall League - Surprise Saguaros 11, Salt River Rafters 10 (F/10)
GUARDIANS PROSPECTS (SURPRISE SAGUAROS)
Kody Huff (C): 1-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 SB - Huff did a little bit of everything offensively in his AFL catching debut - including driving in Jac Caglianone twice, once on a base-loaded walk to start the scoring in a for-run third frame and on a single three innings later to put a bow on the Saguaros’ regulation tallies.

Milan Tolentino (3B): 0-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 SB - While he went hitless for the first time this fall, Tolentino made the most of a good night in terms of plate discipline.

Allan Hernandez (RP): W (1-0), 2 IP, 1 BB, 3 K - Hernandez repeated his pair of no-hit frames from Opening Day, albeit this time in an extremely high-leverage situation - namely the ninth and tenth frames of a tied contest.

no more DeLauter?

Josh Naylor is the Guardians’ first baseman, but nothing lasts forever.

In fact, the situation could change after the 2025 season, when Naylor becomes a free agent.

Cleveland’s next first baseman is likely already a member of the organization. Rookies Jhonkensy Noel and Kyle Manzardo started building their cases this season.

On the horizon is another candidate: C.J. Kayfus, the Guardians’ 2023 third-round pick out of Miami.

The 6-foot, 192-pound lefthanded-hitting Kayfus made his pro debut at Low-A Lynchburg after the draft and popped four home runs in 17 games.

Kayfus really started to emerge and speed up his timeline this year at High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron. The 22-year-old batted .291/.393/.511 with 17 homers and 92 RBIs in 107 games.

His RBI total ranked 10th in the minor leagues, while his .904 OPS was 14th.

“He entered pro ball with a history of making contact,” Guardians assistant general manager James Harris said, “but worked hard with hitting coaches Jordan Becker and Amanda Kamekona on his lower-half load in an attempt to tap into his power.”

Defensively, Kayfus’ future is still to be determined. This year, between Akron and Lake County, he played 80% of his games at first base and the other 20% in left field.

His ultimate defensive position is yet to be determined, but “his versatility will be an asset for him,” according to Harris.

Though Kayfus has the ability to play both infield and outfield, he is not overly athletic.

Still, being merely playable in an outfield corner helped Noel break into the Cleveland lineup this season, just as it helped Naylor get a foot in the door back in 2020.

Article
Fantasy
9 Underrated MLB Hitting Prospects To Target According To RoboScout

Luis Merejo, 3B Guardians
Merejo is another 18-year-old third baseman with Statcast data in the same cluster as Montes and Bitonti. To contextualize his data, let’s add his performance to the above table:

Name Age Cont% IZ-Cont% 90th EV Chase% Barrel% xwOBAcon
Lazaro Montes 19 69% 74% 104.8 mph 26% 15% .361
Eric Bitonti 18 67% 77% 104.8 mph 20% 24% .437
Luis Merejo 18 68% 75% 105.9 mph 22% 19% .364
The Guardians’ hitting philosophy for prospects typically emphasizes contact over power. Merejo breaks the mold, demonstrating some of the best raw power of any teenager in the organization.

Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 10/12/24
Justin Lada
Oct 13




Arizona Fall League - Salt River Rafters 14, Surprise Saguaros 11
GUARDIANS PROSPECTS (SURPRISE SAGUAROS)

RHP Dylan DeLucia (SP): 2.1IP, 3H, 4ER, 2K - DeLucia made his first appearance in a month since pitching in the final game of the Captains Midwest League championship game. He was a little rusty, as expected. His fastball was sitting in the low-90s, after being up to 94 and even hitting 96-97 at peak in the playoffs. That might have been some adrenaline fueled. Not an unexpected drop given those circumstance. He couldn’t really find a feel for his slider or changeup, so we’ll see what maybe another outing looks like before kind of seeing where things are with him at the moment.

Chase DeLauter (DH): 1-5 - DeLauter had a solid single (98.8, LA of 10) in this one and got very unlucky on a lineout of 109.7 off the bat (14 LA). He also had a steep fly out at 96. He’s hitting the ball hard, which isn’t a shock. We know the talent is there to hit when healthy, his awkward swing aside. He’s still only a DH for now, which makes sense. The goal for DeLauter is to keep him healthy and get at bats, so at best he’ll be limited in the field. But keep looking for good batted ball data despite the environment.

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Zak Kent (RP): 2IP, 2H, 3ER, 2BB, 6K - Kent his some trouble in his first outing but did record all six outs he got on strikeouts. He was on his slider nearly as much as the fastball and the fastball was 90-92, which looks kind of like where he might be now, even at one time when he was more 97. But the slider has always been his best weapon and he threw it for strikes here and got whiffs.

Milan Tolentino (2B): 1-3, BB, K - Both of the batted balls by Tolentino were over 90, which is good, if nothing unspectacular so far.

Alaska Abney (RP): 1.1IP, H, 3K - Three of four batters erased by Abney via the strikeout. He didn’t touch 90 but he was allowed to throw 35 pitches and was heavy on the change and slider. The two balls he allowed in play didn’t get hit hard. He’s going to be an interesting case to watch.