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Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Sunday, April 21, 2024
Columbus Clippers 3, Buffalo Bisons 5
Box Score · Clippers fall to 8-11
All three of Columbus’ runs came from the long ball on Saturday, with two of them screaming off the bat of top first base prospect Kyle Manzardo.
Manzardo’s offense has picked up significantly as of late and he went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, raising his batting average to .306 and his OPS to .935 in the process.
MLB’s No. 53 prospect Kyle Manzardo is RED-HOT.
The @CleGuardians‘ No. 2 prospect connects on his 2nd homer of the afternoon and 5th extra-base hit on the week for the @CLBClippers. pic.twitter.com/CYugKqBDjC
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 20, 2024
Johnathon Rodriguez had the other home run, his fourth of the season, going 2-for-4 while also stealing a base. Rodriguez is the only Clipper who’s been hotter than Manzardo, hitting .318 with a .999 OPS on the season.
#Guardians 24yr old OF prospect Johnathan Rodriguez follow’s Manzardo with an opposite field solo shot of his own 369 feet and 104.4 mph off the bat to give Columbus a 3-to-2 lead. For Rodriguez it is his 4th HR of the year and extends his on-base streak to 18 straight games.… pic.twitter.com/cONbeCayVH
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 20, 2024
In what was mostly a bullpen game, only two pitchers stood out for Columbus with scoreless appearances. Tanner Burns pitched 1 1⁄3 scoreless frames, striking out three batters. Franco Aleman also put up a zero in the eighth inning while striking out a pair.
With the game tied 3-3, Anthony Gose surrendered two runs in the top of the ninth inning in his lone inning of work to take the loss.
Akron RubberDucks 5, Erie SeaWolves 6
Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 6-8
Akron’s tablesetters did their job, but the offense couldn’t get enough big hits, including zero extra base hits in Saturday’s loss to Erie.
Petey Halpin went 2-for-5 with a stolen base while Khalil Watson went 1-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases. Even catcher Kody Huff impressed on the basepaths, going 1-for-2 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a stolen base (he also threw out both attempted base thieves from Erie).
Starting pitcher Aaron Davenport was decent, allowing three runs on seven hits in 5 2⁄3 innings with four strikeouts against three walks. Akron held a 5-3 lead until the eighth inning, when converted starter Ross Carver gave up three runs on four hits in his lone inning of work to take the loss.
Lake County Captains 12, Lansing Lugnuts 4
Box Score · Captains improve to 6-7
Lake County’s offense erupted Saturday with 15 hits for 12 runs scored. Several Captains had big days, but none were bigger than 2023 third round pick CJ Kayfus, who continued his absolutely blistering start to the 2024 campaign by going 4-for-5 with a double.
#Guardians 22yr old (1B) prospect C.J. Kayfus collected the first 4 hit game (4-5 2B RBI) of his minor league career Saturday for Lake County in their win over Lansing. Kayfus is now hitting .423 with a 1.195 OPS on the season. He is currently riding a 6 game hit streak.
During… pic.twitter.com/gVHGqhXMKb
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 21, 2024
Kayfus now is hitting .423 with a 1.195 OPS on the young season.
Lake County had three different players hit their first home runs of the season. Jake Fox went 1-for-4 with a walk and three-run blast. Cooper Ingle went 1-for-5 with a home run and Maick Collado went 2-for-5 with a home run. Ingle’s home run was his first as a professional.
#Guardians 22yr old (C) prospect Cooper Ingle with an absolute bomb to right field in the 4th inning for Lake County for his 1st career HR in the minor leagues!#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/tbQDr6ObQ4
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 21, 2024
Nate Furman also impressed, going 3-for-5 at the dish with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Justin Boyd went 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base while Angel Zarate walked twice and scored two runs and Tyresse Turner went 2-for-5.
Lake County had to dig itself out of an early hole as starting pitcher Carter Spivey failed to get out of the first inning, allowing four runs on four walks and three hits in 2⁄3 of an inning.
Zach Jacobs was tremendous in long relief, striking out five in 4 1⁄3 innings out of the bullpen to earn the win. Alaska Abney and Jay Driver both pitched two scoreless innings to preserve Lake County’s bullpen, with Abney striking out four batters in the process.
Lynchburg Hillcats 13, Salem Red Sox 8
Box Score · Hillcats improve to 7-7
One of the big questions concerning Jaison Chourio’s status as a potential elite prospect was whether he had the same power potential as his big brother Jackson (currently the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball and starting OF for the Brewers at 20 years old).
Jaison did his part to answer those questions on Saturday with one of his best games yet as a professional, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and a walk, which raised his season slash to a .325 batting average with a 1.091 OPS.
Jaison Chourio sizzles his 3rd extra-base hit of the day for the @LynHillcats, a roundtripper to straightaway center.
The @CleGuardians‘ No. 5 prospect ups his Single-A slash line to .333/.490/.615: pic.twitter.com/quvAP4I970
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 21, 2024
And don’t forget about the Guardians’ 2023 first round pick Ralphy Velasquez, who went 2-for-4 with a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base, scoring three runs and raising his OPS to 1.108.
Angel Genao went 2-for-4 with a double, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base while Wuilfredo Antunez went 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk and a stolen base.
Juan Benjamin singled, walked and stole a base; Esteban Gonzalez singled, walked and stole a base; Rafael Ramirez Jr. doubled and stole a base while catcher Robert Lopez went 1-for-2 with three walks and scored three runs as the Lynchburg offense erupted.
Starting pitcher Yorman Gomez was rock solid, allowing one run on three hits in five innings with four strikeouts and two walks to earn his first win of the season.