Guardians Baseball Insider

Scoreboard

Triple-A: Columbus Clippers 5, Toledo Mud Hens 3
Double-A: Akron RubberDucks 11, Reading Fightin Phils 0
High-A: Great Lakes Loons 12, Lake County Captains 1
Single-A: Lynchburg Hillcats 11, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1

Highlights

Jhonkensey Noel (3B, Lynchburg Hillcats): 5-5. 3 RBI – Noel didn’t have an extra base hit in this one but a 5-5 performance is still a 5-5 performance. He continues to tear up the league formerly known as Carolina. As a guy who is known for his power, putting the ball in play in five at bats and coming up with some good hits and a few lucky ones, is still an interestingly good game.

Andres Melenez (C, Lynchburg): 3-5, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI – Melendez, known for his glove, had an offensive explosion in his one. He was a human highlight reel with a pair of homers, a double and four RBI and also threw out a runner stealing with a 1.94 pop time. He’s thrown out 4-8 of attempted stealers this years and now has an OPS over 1.000. He’s always had a feel for contact and a good approach at the plate. If he develops a solid offensive game to go with his defense, he can become a serious threat as a catching prospect.

Bobby Bradley (DH, Columbus): 3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI – Bradley hit a pair of homers for the for the Clippers including the one in the eighth that gave them the eventual lead. Not that it truly matters, but not the worst time for Bradley to go two-fer on the long balls the day Franmil Reyes injured himself long enough to miss some time.

Tyler Freeman (2B, Akron): 3-4, 2B, HR, RBi, BB – Freeman did it all in this one including notch his first homer of the 2021 campaign. His nine game hitting streak was snapped Friday but he’s attempting to start a new one with a bang.

Kirk McCarty (SP, Columbus): 7IP, 5H, 2ER, BB, 7K – This ties McCarty’s career high in innings and the Clippers needed it with a bullpen game earlier this week and Logan Allen getting shelled. For a guy who struggled in 2019 coming off a spring training injury, joining High-A (at the time) Lynchburg late that year, and then essentially skipping Double-A, McCarty has really pitched well in Triple-A. He’s not missing many bats but his command has been sharp and he’s only allowed 15 hits in 23.2 innings. Not bad for a pitchability lefty who only throws 88-92.

Best of the rest

Blake Parker (RP, Columbus): 1.1 IP, 2K – Parker picked up his fourth save of the season and has yet to give up a run this year. It’s a bit surprising to see him in Columbus at this point as there doesn’t seem to be room at the Cleveland bullpen Inn short of an injury to anyone and another team hasn’t come calling for some veteran help from the split/change artist.

Bradley Zimmer (LF, Columbus); 2-2, 2B, 2BB – Zimmer has reached base in 10 straight games and has three two-hit games the last four games as well. Also not a bad time for him to be playing well with Reyes’ injury.

Andres Gimenez (2B, Columbus): 2-5, CS – Gimenez got some time at second base in this one and picked up a pair of hits and was caught stealing as he works to get his groove back in the box.

Owen Miller (1B, Columbus): 0-5 – The nightly Owen Miller update. The surprise is a hitless night in five at bats and another note that he played first base for the second time.

Bo Naylor (C, Akron):1-4, HR, 2 RBi, BB – Naylor hit his first homer of 2021 along with Freeman, but his was in the first inning. He also had two strikeouts and has had a tough time finding his offensive footing. as a 21 year old in Double-A for the first time.

Oscar Gonzalez (LF, Akron): 3-4, BB – Gonzalez had three singles but more importantly had a walk and no strikeouts. It was his second walk of the season.

Richie Palacios (RF, Akron): 2-4, 2 2B – Palacios got his first start in right field and sixth in the outfield overall. He’s played second and all three outfield positions and has an .808 OPS, which is impressive for how much he’s moved positions and missed all of 2019 and 2020 without being a season.

Will Benson (CF, Akron): 1-5, HR, 2 RBI – Benson is hitting under .200, but has an OBP of .328 and hit his second homer in Akron’s big win while getting more time in centerfield. And this one was a laser.

Will Brennan (CF, Lake County): 1-3, 2B – This was quite literally the only highlight in a very ugly loss for the Captains. Brennan has a four game hitting streak and has reached base in all 14 games he’s played this season, giving him an OBP of .474 and an OPS of .974 overall. Brennan might need a new challenge in Akron if they have a spot for him some point this seaosn.

Gianpaul Gonzalez (C, Lake County): IP – Gonzalez, a catcher by trade, pitched an inning to save the Captains bullpen in this ugly affair. It was a perfect inning.

Jerson Ramirez (RP, Lynchburg): 2IP, H, BB, 5 K – A nice multi-inning relief outing for Ramirez who still has yet to allow a run this year and has 15 strikeouts in nine innings this year allowing two hits and a walk.

Josh Wolf (SP, Lynchburg): 4IP, 2H, 2BB, 3K – It wasn’t a great long start for Wolf, but he kept the Pelicans off the board and threw just 36-61 pitches for strikes.