Guardians Baseball Insider

Image: TCP Photography/Courtesy Lake County Captains

Scoreboard

Triple-A – Indianapolis Indians 8, Columbus Clippers 7 (11 innings)
Double-A – Akron RubberDucks 3, Bowie Baysox 2 (10 innings)
High-A – Lake County Captains 9, Great Lakes Loons 6
Low-A – Lynchburg Hillcats 15, Carolina Mudcats 4

HIGHLIGHTS

Joe Naranjo (Lake County, 1B): 2-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K – Naranjo has been a force of nature at the plate this season.  He has played in 13 games and reached base in every one of them.  He took his raking to another level on Sunday with and outing that brought his season statline to .317/.491/.756 with nine extra-base hits (3 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR) out of 13 total and 15 RBI, all while maintaining a 13:12 K:BB ratio (none of the walks intentional).  Akron, look for him to head your way very soon.

Jhonkensy Noel (Lake County, 3B): 2-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K – Noel, whose slump from earlier in the week seems to be safely in the rearview mirror,  provided the rest of the Captains offense with this two-homer afternoon, including a three-run shot to left center in the top of the ninth that broke a 6-6 tie and ultimately gave the Eastlake nine the victory.

Joe Donovan (Lynchburg, C): 3-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 1 BB – Donovan entered Sunday with only two total bases and a .396 OPS.  Those numbers are now nine and .849.  Hopefully, this is the start of a turnaround and not a one-off great day.  Which one it is will be crucial as he is starting the season a level down from Lake County, where he played his rookie season.

Jorge Burgos (Lynchburg, DH): 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K – This three-RBI Sunday brought Burgos’ season total to a team-high eleven, good for a tie for ninth in the Carolina League (By the way, I love having the real league names back.  Let us never speak of the nomenclature debacle of 2021 ever again.).

REHAB

Luke Maile (Columbus, starting C): 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K – Maile continues to impress at the plate in his rehab stint.

BEST OF THE REST

Richie Palacios (Columbus, starting LF): 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K – Palacios now has 15 RBI this season following a two-run homer in the seventh. He was pulled late in the game, possibly in case he has to head to Oakland with Steven Kwan’s hamstring injury.

Alex Call (Columbus, backup LF): 2-2, 1 R, 1 B, 1 HR, 4 RBI – Call replaced Palacios in left and had an even better day, including a two-run homer of his own in the ninth.

Bryan Rocchio (Akron, 2B): 2-5, 3 RBI – It may not have been Rocchio’s best game of the season so far, but it was his most impactful, as he drove in all three runs in the Mallards of Main Street’s extra-inning victory.

Jose Tena (Akron, SS): 2-5, 2 K, 1 CS – Tena had the only multi-hit afternoon for the RubberDucks.

Will Brennan (Akron, RF): 0-3, 2 BB – Even on a day he went hitless, Brennan still reached base twice via walk.

Bo Naylor (Akron, C): 1-4, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB – In his first three professional seasons, Naylor stole 22 bases in 227 games.  Only twelve games into his fourth pro campaign, he already has four.

Tanner Burns (Akron, SP): ND, 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 4 BB, 6 K, 1 BK – Despite some control issues continued his pattern of high strikeout rates (11.37 K/9) and keeping runners from crossing the plate (2.13 ERA).

Andrew Misiaszek (Akron, RP): 2 IP,  H, 1 BB, 3 K – Misiaszek remains unscored upon in 9.2 Innings this season.

Kevin Kelly (Akron, RP): W (1-1), 2 IP, 1 H – Kelly picked up a well-deserved relief win after pitching two stellar high-leverage innings.

Johnathan Rodriguez (Lake County, LF): 2-5, 1 K, 1 SB – Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to five games with his second multi-hit game in his last three.

Micael Ramirez (Lake County, C); 1-2, 1 R, 3 BB – Might Ramirez be starting to regain the plate discipline that led to his 15:25 K:BB ratio last season?

Hunter Stanley (Lake County, RP): W (1-1), 4 IP, 3 H, 2 K – Stanley’s hot start to his professional rookie season continued on Sunday as he lowered his ERA back under 1.00 (0.84 – one earned run in 10.2 frames).

Jordan Jones (Lake County, RP): S (2), 1 IP, 2 H, 1 K – Despite allowing a pair of hits, Jones remained perfect on the season both in terms of not allowing runs and converting save opportunities.

Will Bartlett (Lynchburg, 1B): 1-3, 3 R, 3 BB – Bartlett’s 13:11 K:BB ratio to start the season is a welcome improvement from his 94:47 total from his first two pro seasons.

Franco Aleman (Lynchburg, SP): 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R (both earned), 6 K – Speaking of K:BB ratios, Aleman’s is 13:4 through a trio of four-inning starts.

Reid Johnston (Lynchburg, RP): 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K – Johnston rebounded impressively from the first hiccup of his competitive professional career (a five-run outing on Tuesday).

Jake Fox (Lynchburg, CF): 1-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 CS – Fox has multiple total bases in three of his last four games played.  During that stretch, his slash line has improved from .182/.325/.212 to .255/.444/.319. He also was listed as the centerfielder, which seems interesting.