Cleveland – Quick, name the 17 players who made their major league debuts for Guardians in 2022.
Stephen Kwanyeah, the third-place finisher in the American League’s Rookie of the Year field. Oscar Gonzalezwho enjoyed a “SpongeBob Squarepants” themed October celebration, of course. Bo Naylor He made a cameo late in the season. Gabriel Arias And Tyler Freeman. Will Brennan And Will Benson. Cody MorrisAnd Jadis hunterAnd Connor Pilkington And Xavier Carey. This is 11.
Hmmm, it gets more difficult after that.
Richie Palacios. Brian Lavasteda. Kirk McCarty. There are 14.
Nolan Jonesnow the Colorado Rockies. Alex Cole He spent three weeks with the Guardians, and seemed to have a whole section of friends and family at every home game. Former Ohio State Buckeye Tanner Tully has appeared three times, each in a different month.
The Guardians tied a franchise record with 17 debuts. A year ago, I wrote13 Cleveland Guardians prospects who could break into the major leagues in 2022. Nine of them did (plus Peyton Battenfield, sort of, though he never played in a game). Eight others joined in the fun, too.
Are there still any prospects left that could debut in 2023? Yes sure. I’ll take less than 17 this year, but here are 14 who can jump right into the conversation.
He’s 21 years old and has the ability to drive a fastball to the moon. The question is, can he make enough contact to survive against major league pitches? Noel posted a .348/.396/.636 slant in A-ball in 2021, the year he graduated from his teen state. Last season, split between High A and Double A (plus a September cameo at Triple A), he posted a .229/.310/.489 slant streak. There is also the question of where to defend it. In 2022, he started 50 games in right field, 25 at designated hitter, 24 at third base, 17 at left field and 17 at first base.
13. SB Tanner Burns
Burns has the second highest rated pitcher named Tanner in the Guardians system, and he reached Double A last season. He posted a 3.56 ERA in 164 1/3 innings pitched, with 183 strikeouts, although he walked more than four batters in nine innings pitched. At 24, the 2020 first-round pick may be ready to start the season at Triple-A Columbus, but the organization has a major quandary at the senior levels.
12. SP Peyton Battenfeld
Battenfeld spent a long weekend with the Guardians last August, joining the club in Detroit on a day off and then substitute James Karinchak On the active roster for their series in Toronto. He didn’t make it to a game, though. Will he get his chance, or could his career end mirroring the work of Moonlight Graham? The Guardians acquired Battenfield from Tampa Bay to Jordan Lublo in 2021. That year, he posted impressive High A and Double A numbers, with a 2.53 ERA, a ridiculous 0.219 on-base percentage and 11.4 strikeouts in nine innings pitched. But his peripherals suffered in 2022, as his strike rate nearly halved, his gait rate doubled and his hit rate soared. Cleveland chose not to add Battenfeld to the 40-man roster and he wasn’t selected in the Rule 5 draft. The 25-year-old has plenty of competition in Columbus in the rotation consideration battle.
Brian Rocchio (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Rocchio, who turns 22 on Friday, is a Top 100 prospect, posting last season a 0.755 OPS between Akron and Columbus. Since making his Triple A debut in 2022, he’s been a call-up to one of the big leagues, but few people stand in his way: Amed RosarioAndres Jimenez, Arias and Freeman. That’s not to say Rocchio can’t make his way to the roster sometime in 2023, but he will need others to flop, land on the injured list or be included in a deal to help ease the mediocrity crowd. If not for this surplus, we can get rid of it Jose TinaAlso on this list, since he finished last season in Triple A.
10. (Tie) RP Nick Mikolajchak, RP Andrew Misiaszek
The Guardians have lost some painkillers Nick Enright And Kevin Kelly In the Rule 5 draft, however, Mikolajchak and Misiaszek—they say those names five times fast (or once slow)—remained in the organization. Mikolajchak seemed to be on a fast road to big business, but then this happened …
2021: walk rate 5.6%, strike rate 35.2%
2022: Walk rate 13.7%, strike rate 23.6%
One National League scout told me he was surprised another team didn’t catch Mikolajczak in the Rule 5 draft. Misiaszek, USA TODAY Aaron CevalA former teammate at Northeastern, he posted a 2.04 ERA between Akron and Columbus last season, with 90 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings pitched.
8. C/Lou David Frey
The oldest statesman on the roster, Fry, is 27 years old, but he offers defensive versatility that would surely appeal to a flexibility manager like Terry Francona. Fry, who has appeared in corner area points and at catcher, was acquired in a deal with righteousness For JC Mejía a year ago and it was a solid year on the plate last season for Columbus, with 17 home runs, 27 doubles, and 779 OPS. He played in the Arizona Falls League and perfected his skills behind the plate on the clubhouse this winter. Outside Mike Zunino And finally Bo Naylor, There must be some chances behind the plate this season.
7. (tie) SP Daniel Espino, SP Gavin Williams, SP Tanner Baby
These three, all of whom are widely regarded as top 100 teams, are Cleveland’s rotation receivers. Part of the future may arrive as soon as this summer. The front office resisted the business offers of the three. Now it’s a race for the big leagues. Williams and Bibee advanced from High A to Double A last year, in their first professional seasons involving action games. The results were shocking. It makes sense that they were both in Columbus before long.
Baby: 132 2/3 innings pitched, 2.17 ERA, 1.8 BB/9, 11.3 k/9, .603 discount OPS
Williams: 115 innings, 1.96 ERA, 3.1 BB/9, 11.7 K/9, .528 Competitor OPS
Espino, on the other hand, started the year in Akron but only got into four games before knee and shoulder injuries derailed his season. In those four starts, he struck out 35 batters in 18 1/3 innings pitched.
It’s just a matter of health for Cantelo, who spent the entire 2022 season in Akron. He was part of the six-player package Cleveland received from San Diego Mike Clevinger in 2020, but has only hit 73 2/3 innings since then. 277 slugging percentage in 60 2/3 innings pitched, and although his walk rate was a bit high, he struck out 87 strikeouts. In parts of five minor league seasons, he has a 2.38 ERA, with more than twice the number of hits allowed.
3. Logan Allen Logan
Cleveland’s 2020 second-round pick from Florida International could see him go five straight years in Logan Allen’s big-league hire. (I also completely forgot about Logan S. Allen who performed for the Guardians this past April.) This is amazing Logan Allen, Logan T. Allen, ripped through the Cleveland system with a standout performance in 2021, his first professional season, and a solid start in Double A in 2022 before hitting a speed bump upon being promoted to Triple A. High walk rate. He believes he will return to Columbus to start 2023, but if he can regain his drive, he could carve out a spot near the top of the rotation queue.
Valera regularly does three things at the plate: walks, hits, and hits hard. Can he do more walking and hitting for strength and lower his hitting rate? He turned 22 in November, so there is plenty of time for him to develop into a batsman and utilize his discipline skills. At the moment, his profile is feeling Carlos Santana-Whiskey (Not a bad thing). Valera reached Triple A last summer, so if the Guardians need a cornerback sometime in 2023, he can get interest. His numbers in 2022: Italic.
Herrin has the easiest path to the majors of anyone on this list because…the Guardians added him to the 40-man roster in November, there’s at least one vacancy on the roster, there’s not a lot of competition, he’s tall-instead of However, he can offer multiple roles, he’s cast in the mid-’90s, and teams rotate between relievers each season. (gasps) Is this justification enough? Herren, 26, was a 29th-round draft pick in 2018 from Indiana University. He was dominant in Akron last season — 22 innings and a third, five home runs, six walks, 37 strikeouts — before earning a promotion to Columbus, where his strikeout average remained strong, but his era jumped to 4.98.
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(Top photo by George Valera: Mike Janes/Four Seam Images via Associated Press)