Guardians Baseball Insider

The Captains are five games over .500 and coming off a very successful week where they took five out of seven games. Due to heavy rain, Lake County played two doubleheaders during their six-game series with the South Bend Cubs, sweeping both series and garnering another victory to win the series.

Day-by-Day

7/1: Game 1: W 5-4 vs. South Bend; W: X. Curry (1-0); L: Bain (2-3); SV: Kelly (5)

Game 2: W 3-2 vs. South Bend; W: L. Allen (5-0); L: Carraway (2-1); SV: Herrin (2)

7/2: L 3-5 vs. South Bend; W: Casey (4-5); L: Burns (2-4); SV: Ramos (4)

7/3: Game 1: W 2-1 vs. South Bend; W: Ramirez(1-0); L: Reyes (2-2)

Game 2: W 5-0 vs. South Bend; W: Coulter (4-3); L: Nahas (1-1)

7/4: L 0-3 vs. South Bend; W: Suellentrop (2-0); L: Hickman (3-4); SV: Jesson-Dalton (1)

7/6: W 12-3 vs. Fort Wayne; W: Ocker (3-0); L: Lugo (0-3)

Player of the Week

C Bryan Lavastida: 9-21, 6 R, 3 2B, 2 K, 1 BB

The converted infielder drafted by the Indians out of Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida during the 2018 MLB Draft had a torrid week from both sides of the plate, getting a hit in every game over the last week to put together an active ten game hitting streak and has made a myriad of plays behind the dish to get outs. When compared to his fellow catchers in all three High-A leagues, Lavastida is 7th in wRC+, 1st in K%, 6th in BB/K, 8th in runs, 4th in steals, and 9th in OPS. The pitching staff raves about the work he does behind the plate, in game calling or pitch selection.

Who’s Hot?

INF/OF Victor Nova: 5-13, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1.505 OPS

The versatile defender picked up by Cleveland in the Trevor Bauer trade had a hot week that peaked with a two homer game. While Nova’s on base skills didn’t shine during this week, he really saw the ball well as three of his five hits over the last week have been home runs.

OF Clark Scolamiero: 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K, 2 BB, 2.171 OPS

Despite only picking up a handful of plate appearances since being promoted to Lake County, Scolamiero has already made an impact. Two timely home runs to go along with two walks compared to one strikeout is really good, especially when your OPS winds up beginning with a 2 before the decimal point.

SP Hunter Gaddis: 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 8 K, 1 BB, 1 HB

Hunter Gaddis was dominant in his sole outing, wreaking havoc on the South Bend lineup with his entire arsenal. He traded zeroes with an opposing starting pitcher who was throwing a perfect game, and Gaddis’ almost flawless performance helped his team eventually get the win in extra innings.

Who’s Not

SS Brayan Rocchio: 4-21, 1 HR, 8 K, 1 BB

Brayan Rocchio has been awful at the plate over the past week after breaking out and showing signs of life recently. As the old saying goes, “what goes up must come down”. In my opinon, that is all that has happened here. Don’t expect it to last much longer, as Rocchio is very talented.

2B Aaron Bracho: 2-17, 1 2B, 7 K, 3 BB

Bracho has had a miserable week, but is still finding a way to draw walks even when he cannot put the bat to the ball. Bracho has a fantastic approach at the plate, and the fact that a silver lining is visible in his week long slump is very encouraging. It will be interesting to see how he performs in the second half of the season.

Up Next

7/7: @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 pm

7/8: @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 pm

7/9: @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 pm

7/10: @ Fort Wayne, 6:35 pm

7/11: @ Fort Wayne, 1:05 pm