Guardians Baseball Insider

With the draft concluding and the signing deadline being August 1, there’s a chance Lynchburg could see some reinforcements come their way soon. They’re going to need it. Jhonkeney Noel should be on his way back soon from injury as he is rehabbing in games in Arizona, but Micah Pries went to go rehab there and wound up on the IL instead. To make matters tougher for the Hillcats, Daniel Espino now joins Xzavion Curry in graduating from Low-A to High-A, another big blow to their rotation. So some of the college arms might get there to help out, they hope, possibly Connor Kokx, the lone OF Cleveland took in the draft. Luckily for the Hillcats, they played well against Carolina and now have Fredericksburg to beat up on again and Yainer Diaz continues to punish the ball, while Alexfri Planez and Petey Halpin are starting to come around. But they’re going to need pitching soon. 

Day-by-Day

7/8 Ppd vs. Carolina
7/9 W 14-10 at Carolina
7/10 L 3-2; L 5-2 at Carolina
7/11 W 2-1 at Carolina
7/13 W 7-5 vs Fredericksburg
7/14 W 7-6 vs Fredericksburg 

Hillcats Prospect of the Week

C Yainer Diaz: .400/.400/.800 – HR, 3 2B, 4 RBI

Cody Farhatt had a better week as a hitter with three homers, including a walkoff hit. But at 24 and in Low-A, it’s hard to follow his progress as significant. Diaz had a really good week and continues to hit everything in sight. He didn’t work a walk but he is making hard contact and doing it often.

Who’s Hot

OF Cody Farhat: 7-20 (.350.391/.900),\ 3 HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 2 SB

It was quite a week for Farhatt that did indeed include a walkoff hit. He hasn’t been that consistent this year but this week Farhatt gave the Hillcats some much needed offense as it has been hard to come by at times this year with a lot of good hitters hurt or just young and inexperienced and Farhatt at 24 is a minor league veteran here. Farhat did get the bump to Lake County after this week, once again.

RHP Josh Wolf (1 GS): 4IP, ER, 2H, 3BB, 6K

Not an outstanding line but Wolf needed this start badly. He’s allowed 14 runs his last three starts, and hadn’t had a really strong statistical outing since mid-June. That doesn’t mean he didn’t have success working on things during those rough starts, as you know. Scouting the stat line is a fools evaluation. But it was good to see a positive statistical outing for the young right hander.

Who’s not

INF Angel Martinez: .286/.286/.286 (6-21)

Hitting .286 over the week is fine. It’s certainly not bad. But it was six singles and no walks. But he did drive in two and stole a base. Not really a bad week, but as torrid as he has been, this was an interesting stat line.

RHP Jordan Jones (1 GS): 3IP, 6H, 6ER, 2BB, 3K

Jones has average just shy of a strikeout per inning this year, but he’s had control issues and has been hit hard with a few blowup starts. A 16th round college arm, Jones has not had the same success at the full season level this year that he enjoyed in the complex league in 2019.

Transactions

OF Cody Farhatt promoted to Lake County
RHP Daniel Espino promoted to Lake County
RHP Jacob Forrester assigned to Lake County
OF Micah Pries placed on the 7-day IL

Up next

7/15-7/18 HOME vs Fredericksburg

7/20-7/25 AT Delmarva