Guardians Baseball Insider

Photo: David Monseur/Accent Images/Courtesy Akron RubberDucks

Scoreboard

Triple-A – Iowa Cubs 8, Columbus Clippers 2
Double-A  – Akron RubberDucks 13, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 1
High-A – Cedar Rapids Kernels 11, Lake County Captains 2
Single-A – Lynchburg Hillcats 6, Salem Red Sox 4

HIGHLIGHTS

George Valera (Akron, RF): 3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB – Valera’s multi-homer Thursday continued a hot week for him in Binghamton, NY.  In the first three games of the series against the Rumble Ponies, George is 7-for-14 with four runs scored and six driven in.  While the .500/.563/.857 slash he has posted this series is obviously unsustainable, it is  a reminder of his potential in an otherwise uneven first full season in the crucible of Double-A.

Hunter Gaddis (Akron, SP): W (4-1), 6 IP, 1 BB, 11 K, 1 WP – Gaddis came within one walk of pitching six perfect frames and averaged nearly two strikeout an inning as he dominated the Mets’ Double-A affiliate.  Nights like last night remind all of us just how loaded this Akron squad is.  Especially when you remember that Gaddis is the one RubberDucks starter who is usually piggybacked.

BEST OF THE REST

Will Benson (Columbus, LF): 1-5, 2 K, 1 SB – Benson stole his ninth base of the season, good for a tie for 9th in the International League (the lead is way out of reach, former Indians farmhand Samad Taylor has stolen 17 for the Buffalo Bisons and has a three-steal lead over the field).

David Fry (Columbus, 3B): 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K – Fry is also among the IL leaders, in his case, in doubles.  His eleven two-baggers put him in a tie for fourth, only two short of the league lead (tie between Toledo Mud Hens SS Zack Short and Bisons CF Nathan Lukes – the latter of whom played in the Cleveland system in 2015 and 2016 before being dealt to the Rays in the Brandon Guyer trade).

Bo Naylor (Akron, C): 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 SF – On a night filled with prodigious hits by the Mallards of Main Street, Naylor drove in his pair of runs on an equal number of sac flies.

Julian Escobedo (Akron, LF): 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI – Escobedo’s multi-RBI night fell somewhere in between, with both RBI  coming on a fifth-inning single.

Marcos Gonzalez (Akron, 1B): 3-5, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI – Gonzalez’s three-hit performance showed a flash of his April form that had his OPS over .900 for virtually the entire month.

Daniel Scheemann (Akron, SS): 4-5, 3 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI – Hopefully, this was the beginning of Schneemann figuring out Double-A and not a one-off big night.

Luis Oviedo (Akron, RP): S (1), 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 1 BB. 4 K – Not surprisingly, Oviedo’s first career save is of the multi-inning variety, in this case, the exceedingly rare three-inning save.

Aaron Bracho (Lake County, DH): 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 SB – Bracho’s two-run double in the seventh was the only offensive highlight of a game that, mercifully, happened on the road and not in front of their fans in Eastlake.

Raymond Burgos (Lake County, RP): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K – Burgos makes it back-to-back scoreless outings (4.1 innings combined).

Damon Casetta-Stubbs (Lake County, RP): 1 IP, perfect – The late-inning garbage time provided Casetta-Stubbs the perfect (pun semi-intended) opportunity to rebound from a disastrous Saturday outing (4 ER in 2.1 IP).

Yordys Valdes (Lynchburg, 3B): 2-5, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS, 1 E – Valdes drove in half of the Hillcats runs in their rain-delayed victory last night to increase his season total to 17 in 25 games.

Jake Fox (Lynchburg, SS): 2-5, 1 R, 2 K, 1 HBP, 1 SB – Fox now has multiple total bases in four of his last six games.

Victor Planchart (Lynchburg, 1B): 2-5, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 K – Planchart, whose fifth-inning triple was the Hillcats’ only extra-base hit of the game, made his season debut at first base, likely in an effort to get his bat in the lineup more often than the typical Single-A catcher.designated hitter/bullpen catcher rotation allows.

Jack Leftwich (Lynchburg, RP): W (3-0), 3 IP, 3 H, 2 K – Leftwich threw a scoreless outing for the first time since starting the season with seven shutout frames (over two games).

Hugo Villalobos (Lynchburg, RP): S (1), 2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K – Villalobos closed out the game to earn his first save of the season and his second in as many career non-complex opportunities.