[ad_1]

CLEVELAND — Name the 17 players who will make their major league debut for the Guardians in 2022.

Stephen Kwan, yes, you finished third in the loaded American League Rookie of the Year field. Oscar Gonzalez, of course, who enjoyed his October breakout on the theme of “SpongeBob in His Squarepants.” Beau Naylor made a cameo appearance later in the season. Gabriel Arias and Tyler Freeman. Will Brennan and Will Benson. Cody Morris, Hunter Gaddis, Connor Pilkington, Zabion Curry. It’s 11.

Hmm, after that it gets a little harder.

Richie Palacios. Brian Labastida. Kirk McCarty. There are 14.

Nolan Jones of the Colorado Rockies. Alex Cole said he spent three weeks at the Guardians but seemed to be with friends and family at every home game. Former Ohio State Buckeye Tanner Tully made three appearances, each in a separate month.

The Guardians tied a franchise record with 17 debuts. A year ago, I wrote “Prospects for the 13 Cleveland Guardians who could make it to the big leagues in 2022.” Of those, he pitched nine (plus Payton, who also battenfield, though he never pitched in a game). Eight others attended.

Anybody left who has a chance to debut in 2023? This year he’s going to be 17th under under, but he’s 14 people who have been able to participate in the conversation.

He’s 21 and has the power to throw a fastball to the moon. The question is whether he’ll make enough contact to survive against major league pitching. 348/.396/.636 on his A-ball in 2021. He scored a .229/.310/.489 slashline last season, split between High A and Double A (plus he made a cameo appearance in Triple-A in September). There’s also the question of where he fits in defensively. In 2022, he started 50 games in right field, 25 games as a designated hitter, 24 games at third base, 17 games in left field, and 17 games at first base.

13. SP Tanner Burns

Barnes, the second highest-rated starting pitcher in the Guardians’ system under the name Tanner, reached a double-A last season. In his 164 1/3 innings he posted a 3.56 ERA and recorded 183 strikeouts, but he walked four or more batters per nine innings. At 24, the 2020 first-round pick could be poised to start the season at Triple-A Columbus, but the organization has had a fair amount of congestion at the upper levels.

12. SP Peyton Battenfield

Battenfield spent a long weekend with the Guardians last August, joining the Detroit club for a vacation day and replacing James Karinchuk on the active roster for the series in Toronto. But he never made it into a game. Will he take his chances or will his career mirror Moonlight Graham’s The Guardian acquired Battenfield from Tampa Bay for Jordan his Luplow in 2021 . That year, he posted impressive numbers in High A’s and Double A’s, with a 2.53 ERA, a staggering . But his peripherals have suffered in his 2022, with his strikeout rate nearly halving, his walk rate double that of his, and his hitting rate skyrocketing. Cleveland chose not to add Battenfield to their 40-man roster and he was not selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Brayan Roccio (Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Rocchio, who turns 22 on Friday, is a consensus Top 100 prospect last season, posting .755 OPS between Akron and Columbus. He has only one call from the big leagues since his Triple-A debut in 2022, but there are a few others standing in his way, including Amed his Rosario, Andres Jimenez, Arias and Freeman. This doesn’t mean Rocchio won’t be on the roster at some point in 2023, but he’s likely to struggle with other players and either put them on the injured list or include them in a trade to thin out Nakano’s crowd. Without that surplus, the name of Jose Tena, who finished last season in Triple-A, could also be on this list.

10. (tied) RP Nick Mikolayczak, RP Andrew Misiazek

The Guardians lost relievers Nick Enright and Kevin Kelly in the Rule 5 draft, but Mikolayczak and Misiazek were five times faster (or one times slower) and remained in the organization. Mikolajchak seemed to be on his way to a major, but then this happened…

2021: 5.6% walk rate, 35.2% strikeout rate
2022: Walk rate 13.7%, strikeout rate 23.6%

One National League scout said he was surprised another team didn’t get Mikolayciak in the Rule 5 draft. Misiazek, who was a former teammate of Aaron Sibert in the Northeastern, posted a 2.04 ERA between Akron and Columbus last season, and he had 90 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings.

8. C/IF David Frye

The oldest politician on the list, Frye is 27 years old but offers defensive versatility that will appeal to those who prefer flexibility like manager Terry Francona. Appearing in the corner infield spot and catcher, Frye was acquired by JC Mejia in a trade with the Brewers a year ago and had 17 homers, 27 doubles and . 779 OPS last season with Columbus. He played in his Arizona fall his league and honed his skills behind the plate at the club’s complex this winter. Barring Mike Zunino and, ultimately, Beau Naylor, there should be some chances behind the plate this season.

7. (Tie) SP Daniel Espino, SP Gavin Williams, SP Tanner Bibby

These three are all widely considered top 100 prospects and are the future of Cleveland’s rotation. Part of the future could arrive this summer. The front office is resisting his three trade offers. Now it’s a race to the big leagues. Williams and Bibby were promoted from High A to Double A last year and had their first professional season to include game action. The results were jarring. It should come as no surprise that both will soon be arriving in Columbus.

Bibby: 132 2/3 innings, 2.17 ERA, 1.8 BB/9, 11.3 K/9, .603 Opponent OPS
Williams: 115 innings, 1.96 ERA, 3.1 BB/9, 11.7 K/9, .528 Opponent OPS

Espino, meanwhile, started the season at Akron, but made only four starts before knee and shoulder injuries derailed his season. stole 35 batters.

For Cantillo, who spent the entire 2022 season in Akron, it’s just a matter of health. He was part of the six-player package Cleveland received from San Diego for Mike Clevinger in 2020, but has only appeared in a total of 73 2/3 innings since. A lefty, he limited opponents to a . In his 5 part of his season in the minor leagues, he has owned his 2.38 ERA and has struck out more than twice as many hits as he did.

3. SP Logan Allen

Cleveland’s second-round pick from the Florida International in 2020, the lefty could make it a fifth straight year with the organization recruiting Logan Allen at the big league level. (I also completely forgot that Logan S. Allen pitched for the Guardians last April.) this Logan Allen, Logan T. Allen has run through Cleveland’s system, his first pro season in 2021 and a strong start in 2022 with Double-A before hitting a speed bump on promotion to Triple-A I cut High walking rate. He thinks he will return to Columbus early in 2023, but if he can regain his command, he could carve out a place near the top of the rotation waiting list.

Valera systematically does three things at bat. Will he be able to walk and hit more for power and reduce his strikeout rate?He turned 22 in November, so he’s evolved as a hitter and leveraged his at-bat skills. have enough time to At this point, his profile feels like Carlos Santana (which is not a bad thing). Varela reached Triple-A last summer, so if the Guardians need a corner outfielder at some point in his 2023, he could be considered. His 2022 numbers: .250/.353/.463 thrashing line, 24 homers, 25 doubles, 74 walks, 145 strikeouts in 132 games.

Herrin has the easiest path to the majors than anyone on this list. Because the Guardians added him to his 40-man roster in November. – Handler, he can pitch multiple innings, throws in the mid-90s, and teams cycle relief every season. (out of breath) Is that enough justification? Herrin, 26, was named in his 29th round by Indiana University in 2018. He dominated in Akron last season — 22 1/3 innings, 5 runs, 6 walks, 37 strikeouts — before being promoted to Columbus, where his strikeout rate was still high, but his ERA was his 4.98. jumped to

Deeper

10 Promising Cleveland Guardians Predictions for 2023

Deeper

What are the names of all 54 players of the Cleveland Guardians for the 2022 season?

(George Varela top photo: Mike Janes/Four Seams image, via AP)