Guardians Baseball Insider

It was a brutal week for Lake County. They got walloped by Great Lakes, who is now 1.5 games ahead of them in the standings. The Loons threw a combined no-hitter on Friday July 23 throwing 2020 draft picks Clayton Beeter and Bobby Miller against them and two tough relievers. To boot, it was a 14-0 drubbing that Captains manager Greg DiCenzo made it seem that his team lacked the effort or preparation to play in. Star pitcher Daniel Espinp struggled through the first inning and allowed a homer later in the game as he managed to throw five innings, but an underwhelming start nonetheless. The team lost pitchers Tanner Burns and Alex Royalty to the IL but did gain OF/1B Micah Pries to the offense. The bullpen has been very hit or miss at times and Aaron Bracho has been MIA from games officially now, not just with his bat. It’s a trying time for the young group with over a month of games to go for the first long season for most of them. Burns’ injury stint and Bracho’s struggles are particularly troubling here, as was the hittability of Espino’s fastball this week, though he was able to impressively self diagnose a mechanics issue that led to command struggles. 

Previous games

7/21 L 5-0 vs. Great Lakes

7/22 L 8-5 vs. Great Lakes

7/23 L 14-0 vs. Great Lakes

7/24 L 11-1 vs. Great Lakes

7/25 W 7-6 vs. Great Lakes

7/27 W 7-3 at Dayton

Prospect of the Week

LHP Tim Herrin: 4IP, R, BB, 6K

It was that kind of week for the Captains that a reliever is the player of the week. He pitched in two games and didn’t allow an earned run while pitching two innings in each outing. The offense and most of the pitching was rendered ineffective against the beating Great Lakes gave them. But Herrin, who throws in the mid-90s with a cutter and a slider, has been a solid relief option to keep an eye on going forward.

Who’s Hot

OF Cody Farhat: 4-11 (.364/.417/.636) HR, RBI

Farhat was one of the few bright spots offensively this past week as the offense was shutout twice and no-hit once. He’s getting some playing time now and he’ll need to make the most of it with Victor Nova, Will Brennan, George Valera and Micah Pries also needing action. Aaron Bracho has been out of action so that has opened up some spots but Farhat isn’t someone who you would think would get a lot of playing time, but he had a good week.

OF Micah Pries; 3-8 (.375/.555/.750) 2 1B, HR, 2 RBI, BB

Just three games in coming off his hamstring issue and getting to Lake County after rehabbing instead of going back to Lynchburg, Pries has hit the ground running. Pries was too old for Low-A though this was his first pro season and didn’t play in 2019 or 2020 at all, so it wasn’t as bad as the age/level would suggest. Still, getting off to a good start here is a good sign for his bat and hopefully health.

RHP Jerson Ramirez: 5IP, 3H, 2ER, BB, 5K 

Ramirez has allowed a few runs here and there since getting to Lake County but has been mostly reliable for the team at the end of games including still pitching a lot of multi-inning outings, which is interesting. Players say his slider is one of the filthiest pitches on the team. He throws low-mid-90s and doesn’t have the best command but has good stuff and should continue to be an interesting arm coming along as he pitches all these multi-inning save chances.

Who’s Not

INF Aaron Bracho: 0-7, BB (.000/.125./000)

Bracho has missed the last few games now and maybe because he has been having a hard time at the plate and might have needed some kind of mental break. It’s been a tough year for Bracho overall, just a .586 OPS to date.

RHP Hunter Gaddis: 5IP, 8H, 9R (6ER) 4HR, BB, 10K

I’m not sure this qualifies as ‘not’ being good for Gaddis, but it’s not good, either. He got 15 outs, 10 of them via the punchout, but also allowed four homers, eight hits and six earned runs. That’s pretty rough. Great Lakes had a lot of hitters who were strikeout or home run types, so this was unusually extreme, but also indicative of Gaddis’ profile as a pitcher he might be going forward at times.

LHP Kellen Rholl: 2IP, 8H, 6R (5ER), HR, BB, K

Rholl has struggled all season, working with a performance coach to try to corral things on the mound when they get out of hand. Unfortunately he took one for the team on Friday when Lake County got no-hit in a 14-0 drubbing to eat innings and he never looked like he had a chance that night.

Transactions

7/24 + OF OF Micah Pries added to roster

7/21 + LHP Zach Draper added to roster

7/20 – RHP Tanner Burns and RHP Alex Royalty on injured list (elbow)

Up next

7/28-8/1 AT Dayton

8/3-8/8 HOME vs Lansing