Cleveland Sports Forum

Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 4/24/25
Akron hitters draw tons of walks, Kayfus appears in RF for first time [with Noel and Jones not doing a heck of a lot, that could be significant; don't know if Kayfus has a RF arm]


Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7, Columbus Clippers 5 (Statcast)
Akron RubberDucks 10, Richmond Flying Squirrels 2
Lake County Captains 3, Great Lakes Loons 1
Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 0
HIGHLIGHTS

Johnathan Rodriguez (LF, Columbus): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB - Rodriguez continues to hit Triple-A (or 4A) pitching. He shockingly hasn’t hit for a ton of power so far but he did hit the ball hard twice in this one. But still unsure how he ever gets playing time in Cleveland unless they make a RF change and commit. [another RF option is they're so inclined, which I don't think they are]

Cooper Ingle (DH, Akron): 2-3, RBI, 3BB - It’s been a bit of a slow start to the year for Ingle, but he’s still drawing walks. The strikeout rate is up a little, but it looks like it’s more due to some passivity. His fly ball rate has jumped this year too and he’s carrying a low BABIP. So it was good to see him finally get some positive results in this one and got on base five times.

Kahlil Watson (CF, Akron): 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, BB - Watson smoked a triple to right field and glided into third easily with his speed. Akron has been a triples park this year for this team. Watson is hitting well early, though the strikeouts are still up there. [Strikeouts appear to be unavoidable part of his game]

Notable Performances

Will Brennan (CF, Columbus): 2-5, 2B - Like Rodriguez, Brennan is hitting Triple-A (and 4A) pitching quite well. He’s not really walking or striking out. And he’s hitting the ball about the same as normal exit velo wise. There haven’t really been any changes here at this point to note. So it’s also hard to see where things go for Brennan without some changes to his offensive game at age 27. [Speaking of potential RFs]

Joe Lampe (LF, Akron): 2-4, 2B, 2K - It’s been a tough start for the 24 year old but he was part of the early hitting barrage that got Akron off to a strong start here.

Trenton Denholm (tandem-SP, Akron): 4IP, 0H, BB, 3K - Denholm didn’t allow a hit taking over for Aaron Davenport in the fifth inning. He didn’t walk a batter till the seventh and didn’t allow any real hard contact. Denholm is repeating the level and should be getting a shot at Triple-A sometime this year to see what he can really do and what his future looks like.

CJ Kayfus (RF, Akron): 0-2, RBI, 2 BB - I’m putting Kayfus here despite no hits because he played right field for the first time in his pro career (he previously did a few times in college, so it’s been awhile). That’s something to keep an eye on. He wasn’t challenged to make any tough plays out there but did make a nice throw that showed he should have at least enough arm to compete out there. He was on base three times as well with a walk and a HBP.


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Cleveland Guardians Prospect Report 4/24/25
Akron hitters draw tons of walks, Kayfus appears in RF for first time
Justin Lada
Apr 25






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SCOREBOARD
Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7, Columbus Clippers 5 (Statcast)
Akron RubberDucks 10, Richmond Flying Squirrels 2
Lake County Captains 3, Great Lakes Loons 1
Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 0
HIGHLIGHTS
Johnathan Rodriguez (LF, Columbus): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB - Rodriguez continues to hit Triple-A (or 4A) pitching. He shockingly hasn’t hit for a ton of power so far but he did hit the ball hard twice in this one. But still unsure how he ever gets playing time in Cleveland unless they make a RF change and commit.

Cooper Ingle (DH, Akron): 2-3, RBI, 3BB - It’s been a bit of a slow start to the year for Ingle, but he’s still drawing walks. The strikeout rate is up a little, but it looks like it’s more due to some passivity. His fly ball rate has jumped this year too and he’s carrying a low BABIP. So it was good to see him finally get some positive results in this one and got on base five times.

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Kahlil Watson (CF, Akron): 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, BB - Watson smoked a triple to right field and glided into third easily with his speed. Akron has been a triples park this year for this team. Watson is hitting well early, though the strikeouts are still up there.


Notable Performances
Will Brennan (CF, Columbus): 2-5, 2B - Like Rodriguez, Brennan is hitting Triple-A (and 4A) pitching quite well. He’s not really walking or striking out. And he’s hitting the ball about the same as normal exit velo wise. There haven’t really been any changes here at this point to note. So it’s also hard to see where things go for Brennan without some changes to his offensive game at age 27.

Joe Lampe (LF, Akron): 2-4, 2B, 2K - It’s bee a tough start for the 24 year old but he was part of the early hitting barrage that got Akron off to a strong start here.

Trenton Denholm (tandem-SP, Akron): 4IP, 0H, BB, 3K - Denholm didn’t allow a hit taking over for Aaron Davenport in the fifth inning. He didn’t walk a batter till the seventh and didn’t allow any real hard contact. Denholm is repeating the level and should be getting a shot at Triple-A sometime this year to see what he can really do and what his future looks like.

CJ Kayfus (RF, Akron): 0-2, RBI, 2 BB - I’m putting Kayfus here despite no hits because he played right field for the first time in his pro career (he previously did a few times in college, so it’s been awhile). That’s something to keep an eye on. He wasn’t challenged to make any tough plays out there but did make a nice throw that showed he should have at least enough arm to compete out there. He was on base three times as well with a walk and a HBP.


Jackson Humphries (SP, Lake County): 4IP H, 2R, 4BB - Kind of a bad reason to make the notable Performances. Humphries continues to have control issues on and off. There is interesting stuff here that can miss bats. But he is a young player who is still going through bouts of not having any control with his stuff, yet he got by here.

Luis Merejo Jr. (1B, Lynchburg): 0-1, RBI, 2BB - Two walks and a sac fly is an interesting day for Merejo, who is more of a power prospect with swing and miss. He’s shown the ability to take walks, though you can’t really trust how projectable that will be going forward at his current level. But it’s a good day when he can have a productive day without a hit and not strikeout. [he's not 19 until late June; patience at his age is a good sign]

Tommy Hawke (LF, Lynchburg): 1-3, BB - Hawke continues to be able to hit Low-A pitching. I just can’t figure out what the Guardians thoughts are having a college aged player at a high level repeat Low-A and what that says about him. [does seem to be a message in there]

Rafe Schlesinger (SP, Lynchburg): 4.1IP, 4H, BB, 3K - Schlesinger isn’t getting hit much in Low-A. He’s not missing as many bats as you’d like at this level, but nobody seems to be hitting him hard and he probably should have a higher challenge sometime this year. [college pick last summer, I'd expect him in LC ]

BASEBALL AMERICA: 15 PROSPECTS ON THE RISE perhaps future Top 100
[i can think of only one Guardian, the one who get's all recent publicity]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... y-in-2025/

With April just about in the books, it’s a good time to take a look at some prospects outside the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects list who have raised their profile over the first month of play. While small-sample caveats apply, it’s still important to take note of players showing new skills that are contributing to improved performances. A hitter adding strength or bat speed in the offseason might turn into newfound slugging. A pitcher adding velocity or refining a new pitch might lead to more whiffs, ground balls and weak contact. Even though it’s early, we can still examine these changes to try and determine if what we’re seeing is real or a mirage. With that in mind, today we’re highlighting 15 players who have made noise in the early portion of the season with their performance and could be up for future Top 100 consideration.

I'M WRONG
Braylon Doughty, RHP, Guardians
The Guardians held the top overall pick in the 2024 draft, as well as four picks inside the first 100 selections. They used their pool money to land a trio of high school righthanders in Joey Oakie, Chase Mobley and Doughty, the latter of whom received the biggest bonus and was the only member of the trio to break camp with a full-season affiliate.
So far, Doughty has made four starts, showing solid stuff and above-average command while striking out 30.8% of batters and walking 7.7%. His ERA of 4.30 is well above his FIP of 2.09. Doughty throws a four-seam fastball at 91-93 mph with around 17-18 inches of induced vertical break and slight cut. His primary secondary is a low-80s curveball with vicious two-plane bite. He’ll show a changeup, as well, providing Doughty the foundations of an above-average three-pitch mix. He’ll need to add more power to his arsenal in the coming years, but Doughty has a strong pitchability floor to stand on.

WELL THE OTHER GUY MADE THE FORTUNATE FIFTEEN TOO
C.J. Kayfus, 1B, Guardians
There may not be a hitter on the planet as hot as Kayfus, who’s slashing .407/.514/.661 with four doubles, four triples and a home run over his first 16 games for Double-A Akron. Kayfus consistently catches flush barrels, allowing him to get the most out of his average raw power. It’s his barrel wizardry that allows him to be a polished contact hitter with above-average on-base skills while still showing strong power production. At the moment, Kayfus boasts the best overall stat line in the minor leagues and, after a breakout debut in 2024, he has a strong Top 100 case.

Zack Meisel
@ZackMeisel
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3h
Cleveland prospect Juan Brito underwent thumb surgery to repair a sprained ligament. He’s expected to miss 8-12 weeks.