Guardians Baseball Insider

Korey Holland swipes four bases and Ernie Clement makes his OF debut

Scoreboard:

Triple-A Columbus 6, Louisville 3
Double-A Akron 5, Binghamton 1
High-A Lansing 2, Lake County 0
Low-A Lynchburg 7, Fredericksburg 1

Highlights:

Jhonkensey Noel (DH, Lynchburg) 1-5, HR, 3 RBI: Noel did it again. He has three homers on the year already 11 RBI. He’s slugging over 1.000 so far (slugging, not just OPS). For a big 19 year old power hitter, he only has two strikeouts this season in full season ball for the first time. A good sign combined with a good start.

Korey Holland (CF, Lynchburg) 1-3, 2BB, 4 SB, 2 R: Holland singled to lead off the game for the Hillcats, then promptly stole second then stole third. He also walked in the third inning and stole another base. Then he walked in the eighth and stole his fourth base of the night despite just one hit. A good sign for Holland as well, who needs to get on base to use his best tool, his speed.

Oscar Gonzalez (DH, Akron) 2-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB: Gonzalez cranked his third homer of the week. But perhaps the more interesting development is that Gonzalez has his first walk the first week of the season, after he famously went over 100 plate appearances to start the year in 2019 without a single walk. A more patient Gonzalez makes his offensive upside more tangible. He has light tower power but he has a hard time getting it in games because he makes too much weak contact. 

Owen Miller (DH, Columbus) 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI: Yet another day, another big hit for Miller. He did strike out twice in this one, but his double drove in three runs and broke the game open for the Clippers. Miller doesn’t hit the ball the hardest, but he always seems to find places for the ball to land in the outfield.

Best of the rest:

Yainer Diaz (C, Lynchburg) 3-5, 2 RBI: Diaz is hitting the ball well early in Low-A after a tough start to Short-Season ball in 2019 as he splits time with Andres Melendez behind the dish, who is also hitting well so far.

Sergio Morillo (SP, Lynchburg) 4IP, 0H, ER, 2BB, 5K: Morillo, despite maybe not getting as much hype as Daniel Espino, Josh Wolf and even Xzavion Curry in their impressive debuts this week, might have had the best of them. He didn’t allow a single hit in four innings and fanned five. Another strong start to a young, very inexperienced rotation in Lynchburg.

Will Barlett (1B, Lynchburg) 2-4, 3B, RBI, BB: A nice all around night for Barlett who can bounce between the outfield and first base. He’s got good power but a right handed/right hitting first base/outfield profile is a high bar to clear. 

Nic Enright (RP, Lake County) IP, H, 6K: The 24 year old Enright had 26 strikeouts in 18 innings in the Arizona Rookie League in 2019 and kicked off his affiliate career with a bang and more strikeouts.

Daniel Schneeman (2B, Lake County) 2-4, SB: Schneeman had half of Lake County’s hits in a slow offensive night for the Captains. The 24 year old infielder gave Brayan Rocchio a breather with his start and did what he could to lift Lake County to a win. 

Dakody Clemmer (RP, Akron) 1.1IP, 4K: Both of Clemmer’s outings so far have been of the multi-inning variety so far (3.1IP) and he has eight strikeouts. A strong start to the Double-A campaign for the 25 year old reliever.

Chris Roller (LF, Akron) 1-3, 2B, RBI, R: Roller singled in two runs in Akron’s four run fourth inning. Also of note, he was replaced in LF by Richie Palacios who made his pro debut in the outfield. 

Daniel Johnson (RF, Columbus) 2-2, 2BB, OF assist: Johnson didn’t notch an extra base hit, but two hits and two walks means he was efficient at the plate and got on base. No shock he also contributes in the game with his arm in right field, proving he can impact the game in all facets.

Ernie Clement (LF, Columbus) 1-4, 2B, RBI, OF assist: Clement didn’t have a big day at the plate. The double and RBI were nice. The real story here is that Clement played in the outfield for the first time in his career at a minor league affiliate and he contributed an outfield assist to boot. A nice sign that the high contact, speedy infielder can add the outfield to his tool belt and make it to the big leagues that way. 

Kyle Nelson (RP, Columbus) 1.2IP, 2H, 2K: Nelson was effective again in Columbus, a place he has on business being at anyway. He has nothing left to prove in Triple-A.