Guardians Baseball Insider

Photo credit: TCP Photography/Courtesy Lake County Captains

Scoreboard

Triple-A – Nashville Sounds 5, Columbus Clippers 3
Double-A – Akron RubberDucks 8, Altoona Curve 3 (Game 1 – 7 innings)
Double-A – Altoona Curve 6, Akron RubberDucks 5 (Game 2 – 8 innings)
High-A – Fort Wayne Tincaps 5, Lake County Captains 4
Single-A – Fredericksburg Nationals 4, Lynchburg Hillcats 1
Rookie – Arizona Complex League Guardians 19, Arizona Complex League Athletics 15
Rookie – Dominican Summer League Guardians Blue 9, Dominican Summer League Red Sox Blue 5
Rookie – Dominican Summer League Guardians Red 7, Dominican Summer League Red Sox Red 3

HIGHLIGHTS

Jose Tena (Akron – Game 1, 2B): 3-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI – The story of the opener of yesterday’s doubleheader at the corner of State and Main centered upon one swing of the bat:  namely the one that Tena used to crush a grand slam to center field,  The dinger not only gave the Rubberducks the lead, but also put the game a good way out of the Curve’s reach.

Alexfri Planez (Lake County, RF): 3-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI – pLanez drove in his 30th and 31st runs of the season in a spectacular offensive explosion that extended his hitting streak to 19 games.  During this streak, his slash line has improved from .14 of his 24 extra-base hits.211/.220/.378 to .274/.282/.526  the streak has also included 17 of his 31 RBI this season and 

REHAB

Carlos Vargas (Akron – Game 2, RP): L (1-1), 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (unearned), 1 BB – Yesterday, we saw a prime example of the minors being about development more so than winning as Vargas’ rehab appearance cost the RubberDucks the nightcap.

BEST OF THE REST

Gabriel Arias (Columbus, SS): 2-4, 1 R, 1 K – Arias had the lone multi-hit performance on a rough night for the Clippers lineup.

Bo Naylor (Columbus, C): 0-1, 2 BB, 1 HBP – Naylor extended his on-base streak to eight games despite going hitless.  This two-walk game continued a trend of improved plate discipline for Naylor this season (61:57 this season compared to 244:101 in his first three professional seasons – only 1.07 strikeouts per walk, compared to 2.42 prior to this season).

Randy Labaut (Akron – Game 1, RP): W (1-0), 3 IP, 1 BB, 3 K – Labaut, in only his fourth Double-A outing, pitched three crucial innings to back up Tena’s blast and earn the individual victory in relief.

Brayan Rocchio (Akron – Game 1, SS): 1-4, 1 RBI – Rocchio led off the Rubberducks scoring on a third-inning single that extended his hitting streak to nine games (It ended in the nightcap.).

George Valera (Akron – Game 1, RF): 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SF -Valera  followed later in the inning with a sac fly double play that drove in the RubberDucks’ second run of the game and (possibly) his 51st of the season.  Yes, he does get an RBI, the “sac fly” outweighs the “double play” in terms of awarding an RBI.

Jhonkensy Noel (Akron – Game 2, DH): 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI – Noel, who went hitless in Game 1, was the star of the nightcap for the RubberDucks, breaking a three-game, 0-for-11 clump in spectacular fashion.

Johnathan Rodriguez (Lake County, DH): 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 HBP – Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 13 games on an RBI double in the seventh.

Jack DeGroat (Lake County, RP): 2 IP 1 H, 1 BB, 1 WP – DeGroat is unscored upon in 3.1 innings in July (two outings).

Jake Fox (Lynhcburg, CF): 2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI – Fox continued his July pattern of alternating multi-hit and hitless games with a pair of doubles, including one in the fifth that got him his 29th RBI of the season by driving in…

Luis Durango (Lynchburg, LF): 2-3, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB – Durango also got within one of a round number in  a statistical category, stealing his team-leading 19th base of the 2022 campaign.

Juan Zapata (Lynchburg, SP): L (2-4), 5 IP, 5  H, 2 R (both earned), 2 K, 1 HR allowed – Zapata allowed multiple runs for the first time in nearly a month (June 11), but in this case it was still a good outing as it was his first start of the year and 1.2 innings longer than any of his previous multi-run games this season (and a full inning longer than any other appearance he has made in an official game in 2022).

Yeury Gervacio (Lynchburg, RP): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K – Gervacio, like Fox, has been stuck in a good-bad pattern (scoreless and two-run games).  Also like Fox, he was on the good portion of that cycle last night.

Juan Benjamin (ACL, 3B): 3-5, 3 R, 2 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS, 1 E – Benjamin broke out of a three-game 1-for-10 slump with this multi-triple effort.

Manuel Mejias (ACL, starting C): 3-4, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB – Mejias extended his on-base streak to seven games with this three-hit night.

Fran Alduey (ACL, 2B): 3-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 HBP, 1 CS – This was by far the best game of a rough stateside debut season for Alduey (.167/.233/.315), his eight total bases nearly equaling his nine from his 16 previous ACL games.

Jose Cedeno (DSL Blue, DH): 0-2, 3 BB, 1 K – Cedeno didn’t get a hit, but extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a trio of walks.

Jesus Montilla (DSL Blue, SS): 1-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB – Not only has Montilla driven in five of his nine RBI this month, but he has also improved his OPS by 249 points (.391 to .640) over the course of those four games.  In case you’re wondering, his slash line for July is .429/.556/.786.

Nomar Velasquez (DSL Blue, SS): 0-2, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 3 SB – Sticking to the theme of threes with this game, Velasquez stole three bases, including both second and third in the seventh, to bring his season total to seven and scored all three times he reached base.

Jaison Chourio (DSL Red, CF): 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB – Chourio carried the Guardians Red to a rare victory by driving in three of their seven runs and scoring another two.

Eudry Alcantara (DSL Red, RP): 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K – A solid pro debut for Alcantara, who was activated from the 7-day IL on Thursday.