Travis Bazzana Picture by: Phil Masturzo/USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Photographs
Under is an evaluation of the prospects within the farm system of the Cleveland Guardians. Scouting stories had been compiled with data supplied by trade sources in addition to my very own observations. That is the fifth 12 months we’re delineating between two anticipated aid roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see within the “place” column under: MIRP for multi-inning aid pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning aid pitchers. The ETAs listed usually correspond to the 12 months a participant must be added to the 40-man roster to keep away from being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Guide changes are made the place they appear acceptable, however we use that as a rule of thumb.
A fast overview of what FV (Future Worth) means may be discovered right here. A a lot deeper overview may be discovered right here.
All the ranked prospects under additionally seem on The Board, a useful resource the location presents that includes sortable scouting data for each group. It has extra particulars (and up to date TrackMan knowledge from varied sources) than this text and integrates each crew’s record so readers can evaluate prospects throughout farm programs. It may be discovered right here.
Different Prospects of Word
Grouped by sort and listed so as of desire inside every class.
Protection-Aided Profiles
Kody HuffC
Alex MooneyINF
This BuddyINF
All three of those guys can form of play a premium place and do no less than one different factor properly. Huff, a Phoenix native who went to Stanford, is a mean defender who’s hitting the ball tougher than he ever has earlier than, however his strikeouts are extreme. He might be a positive third catcher on a 40-man. Mooney is a plus athlete with a robust prime hand and bend-y decrease physique. He’s tough across the edges on protection however might have a related power-hitting peak down the road due to how athletic his swing is. Frias has plateaued as a defender. He as soon as appeared like a future plus third base glove, however as an alternative he’s merely common. He nonetheless has good lefty bat velocity, switch-hitting utility, and defensive versatility.
Daniel Espino
Daniel EspinoRHP
We’re now at a degree the place Espino, who was as soon as perhaps the very best pitching prospect within the sport, wants to point out that he’s wholesome earlier than it’s cheap to mission a sensible massive league future for him. He was as soon as touching 102 mph and bending in large secondary stuff, however he hasn’t pitched in a number of years because of a number of extreme accidents.
Delicate-Tossing Depth Starters
Ryan WebbLHP
Rodney BooneLHP
Aaron DavenportRHP
Webb is a slider-heavy 26-year-old lefty out of Georgia who entered 2025 coming off two consecutive years of robust statistical efficiency within the mid- and upper-minors. He has a cricket bowler’s arm motion and pitches closely off a low-80s slider. As soon as a part of an ideal faculty rotation at UC Santa Barbara, Boone’s sneaky fastball, above-average changeup and plus command have allowed the 25-year-old to pitch properly up by means of Double-A. Davenport has been tremendous sturdy (he’s thrown 100 or extra innings every of the final 4 seasons) and is pitching properly in Double-A off the again of his invisible 89 mph fastball. None of his secondaries are plus.
Energy Sleepers
Jorge Burgos1B/OF
Jonathan MartinezINF
Luis Merejo1B/RF
Burgos has plus lefty bat velocity, and his swing is geared to get to all of his energy. He hit 18 bombs final 12 months however struck out practically 30% of the time, which is an excessive amount of for a poor 1B/OF defender. Martinez is one other of the various attention-grabbing Guardians infielders of their advanced group; he has plus bat velocity however below-average really feel for contact. Merejo is an 18-year-old righty slugger who’s struggling to make contact in full season ball thus far in 2025, however he has plus-plus bat velocity and has a 50% hard-hit charge as of record publication.
Bat-to-Ball Sorts
Christian Knapczyk2B
Yeiferth CastilloLF
MAICK COLLADO1b
Bennett ThompsonC
Knapczyk is a hitterish second base-only defender with out the facility to play there on daily basis. He’s carried out properly in A-ball, which is to be anticipated as he’s a 23-year-old who comes out of the ACC. Castillo is a stocky, 18-year-old Venezuelan outfielder whose listed peak and weight (5-foot-8, 155 kilos) represent a comical underestimation of his measurement. He has an ideal rookie ball contact observe file, however he’s a maxed out 1B/LF sort of athlete who must preserve his strikeout charge within the single digits to maintain climbing the record. Collado is a switch-hitting first baseman with good really feel for contact however not sufficient energy for a primary base-only bat. Thompson was a Day Three select of Oregon in 2024 ($150,000) who has had offensive success at Low-A thus far in 2025. He has a punchy swing and good power for his measurement. I’m skeptical of his swing’s long-term viability, however he’s accomplished sufficient thus far to be on the radar.
Additional Relievers
Magnus ortsRHP
Bradley HannerRHP
Tyler ThorntonRHP
Jake MillerRHP
Ellerts is a 6-foot-5 righty with a 92-95 mph fastball that performs up due to his practically seven ft of extension. He’ll flash a great slider however hangs too a lot of them. He has middle-inning aid ceiling if he can polish his management. Usually low-slot pitchers have longer, swooping arm actions, however Hanner is a low-release man with an ultra-short, shot-putter’s stroke. It imparts bizarre angle on his 92 mph fastball and late lateral motion on his onerous slider, however Hanner’s management most likely wants to enhance for him to play a giant league position. Thornton is an open-striding righty with a flat-angled, 94-96 mph fastball and 30-grade command. He’s just lately again from the IL and pitching in Akron. Miller solely throws 89 on common, however he has actually misleading arm velocity and a right-freezing slider. The 24-year-old is off to a good begin at Akron.
System Overview
That is an above-average farm system due to the half dozen Prime 100 prospects spearheading the record, and since the 45 FV tier is especially deep on this org. Most of the high-profile gamers above are off to sluggish begins or are injured, which has stopped the fellows who arguably have the expertise to be 55- or 60-grade prospects from ascending into that tier a bit greater than a month and a half into the season. Accidents are rampant right here. I rely 13 gamers on the primary part of the record who’re both harm proper now, or are rehabbing from harm. It creates some volatility within the evaluation of this method as a complete to have seems to be at that many gamers impacted by their well being.
Has the bloom come off the pitching improvement rose a bit bit right here? Whereas there are a number of latest late-round draftees who’ve improved sufficient to make the lower for this rating, there isn’t a apparent, Tanner Bibee-ish mid-rotation sort who has added large velo and is rocketing by means of this org proper now. There are many former non-prospects who’re all of the sudden 35+ or 40 FVs, however much less in the way in which of the actually influence pitching we’re used to seeing on this system. Final 12 months’s Guardians draft class, which introduced three high-profile highschool pitchers into the fold (Braylon Doughty, Joey Oakie, Chase Mobley), seems to be like a deliberate try to vary that, however two of these three guys have been sluggish out of the gate.
As a substitute, the core of this method proper now rests with the place gamers, typically contact-oriented prospects who get a bit bit stronger and begin to swing extra aggressively as soon as they flip professional. Cleveland’s strategy to beginner scouting is exclusive. Like a number of groups, they rely closely on knowledge and modeling, particularly in terms of massive convention faculty gamers. They famously hardly ever ship scouts to Division-I faculty video games till late within the season so the scouts can spend extra time turning over rocks in locations the place the info is much less accessible, like excessive colleges and junior faculties. That’s how you find yourself with Matt Wilkinson and Cooper Ingle in the identical draft class. Cleveland additionally has a observe file of focusing on the youngest gamers in a given draft class, in addition to faculty gamers whose sophomore season and Cape Cod efficiency had been higher than their junior season output (a sign of regression mannequin use).
They’ve behaved equally internationally, as Guardians scouts had been on the early aspect of monitoring amateurs’ swing selections and get in touch with charges in that market. Up to now, they’ve gravitated to short-levered, compact athletes on the worldwide aspect. Whereas that is nonetheless true to a level, there have been extra bigger-framed, high-variance athletes rolling by means of the decrease ranges of the system over the last couple of years, 6-foot-2 prospects slightly than 5-foot-9 fellas. Buying and selling off hit software danger for energy potential is one thing a small market org like this needs to be doing no less than a bit bit, and it appears like Cleveland has made that adjustment.
