Guardian Apprentices

[Guardians]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/new-york-me ... ects-2024/

6. Luisangel Acuña, CF
Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Venezuela (TEX)
Age 22.2 Height 5′ 8″ Weight 181 Bat / Thr R / R FV 45
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
30/40 50/55 30/45 60/60 50/60 45
There was a point after he began 2023 shot out of a cannon at Double-A Frisco following an electric 2022 Fall League stint when Luisangel looked like a potential everyday shortstop. After slashing .315/.377/.453 as a Rough Rider, Acuña was part of the Max Scherzer deal, but his surface performance has tanked since he’s joined the Mets and he’s struggling at Triple-A Syracuse so far in 2024. Even when Acuña has hit well in the past, he has had issues with chase and plate coverage. Instead, it was his remarkable bat speed, which generates surprising power for a hitter his size, that made Acuña a potential impact shortstop who lived toward the back of the Top 100 list. The way his body rotates about his hips as he swings is beautiful, and he has a certain verve and power potential that few 5-foot-8 hitters possess, but Acuña has only performed for fits and starts of the last couple of seasons.

Acuña’s hands on defense can be clumsy. He’s mostly played the middle infield, but prior to the trade, the Rangers also gave him some reps in center field and the Mets have continued to develop him there some of the time. He looks like a natural center field defender, with plus closing speed and ball skills. His ceiling as a defender there might be really high because he already looks so good despite having not played the position for very long. If he can be a plus center field defender and also play a mix of second and third base, we’re talking about a very versatile utility guy whose streaky offense would be more acceptable than if he were in an everyday role.

8. Brandon Sproat, SP
Drafted: 2nd Round, 2023 from Florida (NYM)
Age 23.7 Height 6′ 2″ Weight 175 Bat / Thr R / R FV 45
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Curveball Changeup Cutter Command Sits/Tops
60/65 50/60 45/45 50/55 45/45 40/45 94-98 / 100
Sproat was the Mets’ 2022 third rounder, but he didn’t sign, instead going back for a fourth year at Florida, where he exceeded 100 innings during the regular season; he was shut down after the Mets drafted him again. A noisy, cross-bodied delivery has long driven big league relief projection for Sproat, and he’d probably move quickly if ‘penned proactively, but he also held premium velocity as a starter for his entire career at Florida and has a deep repertoire that has expanded since he joined the Mets.

Sproat tends to sit 94-98 mph, and his sinking, upper-80s changeup is easily plus. He has reshaped his breaking ball as a pro and is now throwing a sweeper-shaped slider in the 82-85 mph range. He’s not using it a ton as of yet, but it has the potential to be a separator for him. Slider consistency was Sproat’s biggest issue at Florida and it looks as though the Mets have helped him make an adjustment there. They’ve also altered his arm slot. Sproat was a cross-bodied, lower-slot guy in college, but he’s a little less cross-bodied now and is throwing from more of a three-quarters slot, giving his fastball rise/run shape rather than the sink/tail of his college days. He’s not yet comfortable locating his fastball to the parts of the zone where its new movement plays best, but this should theoretically help it miss more bats than his college version did. These attributes are still new enough that even though Sproat was already promoted to Double-A, I wouldn’t consider him on the fast track to the bigs until the dust settles on some of these tweaks. He’s given himself a better chance to start long-term and we could be talking about a Top 100 prospect next offseason if Sproat performs well at Binghamton for the rest of 2024.

[Guardians]

Blake Mitchell, C, Royals: Lefthanded power is one of the sport’s most coveted traits, and Mitchell has it to spare. The 2023 first-rounder reached a career milestone on Thursday by clocking two home runs against Kannapolis. The longballs were part of a 3-for-4 night that also included a walk. The effort was Mitchell’s first career multi-homer game and brought him into a four-way tie for second place in the Carolina League in the category.

[Guardians]

Fast-rising Sproat fans career-high 10 at Double-A
Mets No. 13 prospect allows just a hit and a walk in seven frames

By Kenny Van Doren @thevandalorian

The Mets’ No. 13 prospect piled up a career-best 10 strikeouts over seven innings en route to Double-A Binghamton's 3-2 extra-inning win over Harrisburg at Mirabito Stadium. Sproat allowed just two baserunners via a single and a walk while getting through seven frames for the Rumble Ponies for the third time.

The righty retired the first five batters he faced on strikeouts, touching 100 mph on his fastball, before generating a routine groundout from Major League veteran Dérmis Garcia (Nationals) to close his second frame.

"Since he's got here ... he's done a nice job of mixing pitches," Rumble Ponies pitching coach A.J. Sager said. "Even though he has the big fastball, he still finds ways to mix other pitches in so it keeps the fastball alive maybe a couple times through the order."

The Binghamton staff haven't tinkered with Sproat's arsenal, but Sager said there have been conversations with the 23-year-old about how to effectively command his 60-grade changeup against both types of hitters -- sort of an untraditional take on that pitch.

"He's done a good job of making sure that he doesn't eliminate a weapon," Sager said. "Like today, they had seven right-handed hitters. He doesn't take away one of his best weapons just because they're right-handed, so I thought he has done a nice job of mixing that pitch in."

After a pair of groundouts in the third, Sproat fanned his fifth hitter to conclude a perfect first trip through the order. Andrew Pinckney beat out an infield single with two outs in the fourth, but catcher Francisco Alvarez -- who is on a Major League rehab assignment -- caught the Nationals' No. 17 prospect stealing at second base.

"It certainly helps the guys' confidence," Sager said of Alvarez catching his pitching staff. "He didn't just come down here to catch and get his at-bats. He's actually going about it in a very professional way, and guys see that."

Sproat faced the minimum through six, then gave up only his sixth Double-A walk to Robert Hassell III (WSH No. to start the seventh. The Florida product fielded a sacrifice bunt by J.T. Arruda for the first out, then fanned Pinckney and got MLB's No. 6 prospect Dylan Crews -- a former SEC foe from LSU -- to fly out to right field to end his 88-pitch outing.

[Guardians]

Luis Perales, RHP, Red Sox: Perales held Altoona to just two hits and one unearned run in five innings while walking one and striking out seven in his Double-A debut. It was another impressive outing for the 21-year-old. He earned the promotion by striking out 46 in 26.1 innings with High-A Salem. Perales is now 2-2, 2.87 overall with a 53-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 31.1 innings.

Brandon Sproat, RHP, Mets: Sproat allowed just one hit and one walk in seven innings while striking out 10 in his best start of the season for Double-A Binghamton. Sproat earned a promotion to the Eastern League in mid-May. So far he’s been every bit as good after the promotion as he was before. Sproat is 1-0, 1.38 with a 0.77 WHIP and a .163 average against in Double-A after going 2-1, 1.07 with a 1.11 WHIP and .141 average against in High-A. Sproat’s 1.23 overall ERA is tied for third best in the minors (with Mariners prospect Logan Evans).

[Guardians]

15 MLB Prospects To Watch In the Dominican Summer League

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... ts-to-know

Emil Morales, SS, Dodgers
Morales signed primarily because of his offensive upside and he has backed up the Dodgers’ belief in his bat so far with the way he has hit and hit for power in preseason games. Signed for $1,897,500, Morales is 6-foot-3, 190 pounds with a rhythmic, well-sequenced swing from the right side, a disciplined approach for his age and the mix of strength and bat speed that leads to big power for his age and what should be 25-plus home run juice. Between his approach and game power that he has shown early on, he should be one of the most dangerous hitters in the DSL right away. His defense has improved at shortstop, but a lot of scouts expect him to eventually head to third base, where he profiles well both offensively and as a defender.

https://youtu.be/T-by0mMaTC8

Robert Arias, OF, Guardians
The Guardians paid $1.9 million to sign Arias, one of the better pure contact hitters for 2024. It’s not a textbook lefthanded swing, but he has excellent hand-eye coordination that enables him to put balls in play at a high clip. He shoots line drives around the field and could come into more power as he fills out his 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame and learns which pitches to try to pull for damage. He’s an above-average runner with a plus arm in center field.

[Guardians]

Ranking The 20 Hottest MLB Prospects | Hot Sheet (6/4/24)

1. Brandon Sproat, RHP, Mets
Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern)
Age: 23

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.64, 14 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 15 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: Despite all the negativity around the major league team, Mets fans have reasons to be optimistic. The team’s pitching development is beginning to churn out some intriguing starting pitching prospects. Sproat is among the hottest names in the system and last week he delivered a signature performance. He made two starts, going seven in each, while allowing a single earned run over period. He struck out 15 in total, including 10 on Sunday, and allowed just eight total baserunners. Sproat mixes a deep arsenal of pitch shapes with a four-seam, two-seam, slider, curveball and changeup. He has shown the ability to generate whiffs and weak contact and projects as a rotation piece in the future. (GP)

6. Luis Perales, RHP, Red Sox
Team: Double-A Portland (Eastern)
Age: 21

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: After eviscerating the competition at High-A, Perales moved to Double-A and didn’t skip a beat. The righthander—who already has a spot on the 40-man roster—can dominate with an arsenal led by a high-90s fastball and buttressed with a nasty breaking ball and splitter. After punching out seven in his first five innings, he now has 53 strikeouts in 31.1 innings across the two levels. (JN)

https://youtu.be/1XJc3Xzdr3g

[Guardians]

Joe Rock, LHP, Rays: Over the offseason, Tampa Bay swapped speedy utilityman Greg Jones to the Rockies in exchange for Rock. So far, Rock has been a revelation. With Triple-A Durham, he’s commanded and carved his way to a solid season that has included 56 strikes against 12 walks in 53 innings. His latest outing was another gem, a six-inning effort that included nine punchouts and two walks while letting up a pair of solo home runs. If he keeps this up, the majors shouldn’t be far off.

[Guardians]

BA top 100 for June:

57. Luis Perales
60. Brayden Taylor

MLB top 100 for June:

70. Blake Mitchell
77. LuisAngel Acuna
84. Brayden Taylor

[Guardians]

Miguel Bleis, OF, Red Sox: Alex Speier is reporting that the Red Sox are promoting Bleis from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville. Bleis had a breakout season as a prospect in 2022, and seemed ticketed for a fast track through the minors. The 2023 season slowed that ascent. He struggled with pitch selection and a shoulder injury cost him half the season. Bleis was hitting .257/.349/.398 at the time of his promotion. while those numbers may seem modest, Bleis was doing so in a league where the average hitter hits .230/.326/.342.

[Guardians]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... et-6-11-24

10. Joe Rock, LHP, Rays
Team: Triple-A Durham (International)
Age: 23

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 2.70, 10 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 13 SO, 2 HR

The Scoop: The player Rock was traded for—utilityman Greg Jones—made his big league debut this past week, but the big lefthander continued to roll for his new club in Triple-A. The command-heavy southpaw racked up 13 more punchouts over two starts, bringing his season total to 60 in 57 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is an even 5-to-1, and his 3.32 ERA is the fifth-best in the International League, and his 1.27 WHIP is seventh on the circuit. He could be an option for Tampa Bay later in the summer. (JN)

[Guardians]

Luisangel Acuña, SS, Mets: Acuña, who came over from the Rangers last season in the trade that sent Max Scherzer to Texas, has had a solid season in Triple-A since the weather warmed up in the northeast. On Thursday, he tied a season-high with four hits and established a new high-water mark with four RBIs in his team’s trouncing of Lehigh Valley. The 4-for-5 effort also included a double and a walk and brought his 2024 slash line to .259/.313/.359 with three homers and 22 stolen bases.

[Guardians]

BA Hot Sheet 6/18

20. Jean Cabrera, RHP, Phillies
Team: High-A Jersey Shore (South Atlantic)
Age: 22

Why He’s Here: 0-1, 4.26, 6.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 14 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: Cabrera has performed well over 11 starts for High-A Jersey Shore , striking out 69 batters across 61 innings. He has shown solid command as well walking just 7.3% of batters. Last week, Cabrera had an unusual game as he struck out 14 of the 25 batters he faced and allowed just five to reach over 6.1 innings. The flip side is he allowed four runs, three earned, due to a pair of messy innings. Cabrera allowed two runs in the second and was on the hook for the first two hitters to score in the seventh. Outside of that, Cabrera sat down the side in order in five of seven innings. Mixing a mid-90s four-seam fastball, a firm changeup with heavy run, a sweeper slider, and a high-spin gyro curveball, it’s an interesting pitch mix designed for generating whiffs. (GP)

[Guardians]

Jean Cabrera, RHP, Phillies: Cabrera has been one of the better performing pitching prospects in the minors this season, and that continued on Wednesday. Cabrera pitched six scoreless frames, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out eight. Cabrera sits 94-95 mph mixing a low-80s sweeper and a plus changeup. Cabrera’s changeup has racked up swings and misses this season with a 28.1% swinging strike rate.

[Guardians]

CHICAGO -- Early last week, a scout who had traveled to Binghamton, N.Y., to watch the Double-A Rumble Ponies play texted me an unprompted review. The crux of it: Brandon Sproat is the real deal.

Consider that an increasingly popular opinion. In his two starts prior to Thursday’s outing, Sproat struck out 18 of the 34 batters he faced, or a rather ludicrous 53 percent. (To put such a number into perspective, Chicago's Garrett Crochet leads the Majors with a 35.2 percent strikeout rate. The qualified Double-A leader is in the same neighborhood.)

For a Mets farm system that remains position-player heavy, Sproat profiles as a unique asset: Not just an arm, but a high-ceilinged one with plenty of potential to develop into an ace.

“It’s been a pretty impressive start to a professional career,” Mets vice president of player development Andy Green said.

For Sproat, the Mets’ 13th-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline, such success hasn’t happened overnight. Early this season, the right-hander struggled in his introduction to professional ball, notably walking 16 batters over his first 25 1/3 innings for High-A Brooklyn. The Mets promoted him to Double-A for a slew of reasons anyway, including his age -- Sproat will be 24 on Sept. 17 -- and the quality of his stuff. The move appeared to spark something in Sproat, who has more than halved his walk rate since arriving at Binghamton while continuing to fan batters at a high rate.

Green credited the excellence of Sproat’s arsenal as reason for his success, including an overpowering fastball that he’s learned to trust even in the middle of the strike zone, and a sweeper that’s become a more important pitch for him.

But he’s not a finished product just yet. On Thursday, Sproat allowed a career-high four runs in a game against Akron. How he bounces back will be instructive to Mets officials.

“As crazy as it sounds, you want your guys to hit some adversity along the way,” Green said. “It’s part of the game. His will come at some point in time, but we’re really encouraged by what he’s done so far.”

[Guardians]

10 Breakout MLB Pitching Prospects So Far In 2024

Jean Cabrera, RHP, Phillies
Cabrera showed signs of breakout potential dating back to spring training. He flashed impressive sections during his Spring Breakout outing and had some buzz coming out of camp. Over a dozen starts with High-A Jersey Shore, Cabrera has been phenomenal, pitching to a 3.22 ERA, supported by a 3.48 xFIP with a 28.3% strikeout rate and a 7.7% walk rate.

Cabrera gets a high rate of groundballs in addition to showing swing-and-miss stuff and command. His arsenal mixes fastball, slider and changeup and he uses his secondaries more than 50% of the time. Cabrera throws his 94-95 mph fastball just 42% of the time. It has dead-zone shape, and while he’s adept at getting it in the zone, it misses very few bats (17.3% miss rate). Batters have hit the pitch hard to the tune of a .412 wOBA.

Cabrera’s secondaries are strong and they do a heavy amount of the lifting. He uses his slider 33% of the time and throws his changeup 25% of the time. His cambio is his most-thrown pitch against lefthanded hitters. Cabrera has power on his fastball, but rides the quality of his sweepy low-80s slider and hard-running mid-to-high-80s changeup.

[Guardians]

10. Dameury Pena, LF
Signed: International Signing Period, 2023 from Dominican Republic (MIN)
Age 18.8 Height 5′ 10″ Weight 150 Bat / Thr R / R FV 45
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
25/60 30/40 25/45 45/45 30/45 40
The Twins have all these athletic freaks on their complex, but little Dameury Pena is pretty easily the best hitter of the bunch and might be the best prospect if he can find a way to stay on the infield. Decked out in shin and elbow guards that make him look like a walking pack of Starbursts, Pena has uncommon explosion in his hands for a player his size and remarkable feel for hitting the ball where it’s pitched. He has oppo gap power if you want to work away from him, and he’ll snatch fastballs up around his hands if you dare try him in there. His walk rate so far in the 2024 FCL is more than triple his strikeout rate. Don’t confuse that for patience — this is a swing-happy hitter, it’s just that it’s so hard to make Pena swing and miss that eventually FCL pitchers are walking him, though more because of their control limitations than Pena’s plate skills. Pena has played a mix of second base, third base, and left field. Eric saw him play the latter two during his recent Florida jaunt and Pena approached balls too slowly as an infielder. If indeed he ends up an outfielder, Pena will need to hit so much that his game power outpaces his raw, as he’s a smaller guy not likely to add a ton of strength as he matures. The way he’s looked so far in 2024 makes that seem like a possibility. This is a very special contact hitting prospect who might back his way into defensive versatility as he and the Twins search for a position.

[Guardians]

Emil Morales, SS, Dodgers: Morales, who signed with Los Angeles on Jan. 15, hit his first pro home run on Tuesday in his DSL. He enjoyed the experience so much that he did it again four innings later. The two home runs were part of a 3-for-3 day that also included a double and two walks as part of his team’s win over Astros Orange

[Guardians]

Speedy Homer Bush Jr. Wants Power To Develop Naturally

When the Padres drafted Homer Bush Jr. in the fourth round in 2023, team officials touted him as arguably the fastest player in the draft.

He’s certainly the fastest player in the Padres’ system today. Before the season began, he registered a pair of 6.14-second times in the 60-yard dash.

Bush’s tools extend beyond his speed.

The 22-year-old center fielder stole 33 bases in his first 37 tries for High-A Fort Wayne. He’s also beginning to tap to into the extra-base power that eluded him during a cold-weather start in the Midwest League.

Bush did not collect his first extra-base hit( a double) until May 8. In his next 35 games, the righthanded batter hit two home runs and eight doubles with a much healthier .273/.371/.388 slash line.

The power outburst followed a steady climb up draft boards at Grand Canyon, where his career began in anonymity despite being the son of a former major leaguer of the same name. But he was determined to make sure whatever gains arrived in that department did not take away from his No. 1 asset—his legs.

“I want to be the player that I am, and I want to tap into other aspects of my game,” Bush said before the start of the season. “But I want to let it happen naturally It’s about getting stronger.

“The big thing that people always talk about is power, but I have no reason to chase it.”

Listed at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Bush estimates he put on about 15 pounds of muscle, with a nod toward the Padres’ strength-training coaches and the team’s dieticians as he looked to add strength without sacrificing an ounce of his speed.

While he was not aiming for a specific home run total as he began the season, he didn’t hesitate to throw out 100 steals in a season as a goal one day.

“I just want to show up every day and be the best version of myself,” Bush said. “If I do that consistently over the course of 100-plus games, I’ll end up in a pretty cool place.”

[Guardians]

Brandon Sproat RHP, Mets: The Mets have done a good job in recent years of accumulating pitching talent in the first few rounds of the draft. They drafted Sproat in consecutive years and finally signed him in 2023. So far this year, Sproat has been one of the best stories in the Mets farm system. That continued on Thursday. Sproat shut down one of the best lineups in minor league baseball, tossing six scoreless against Portland. Sproat allowed five hits and two walks while striking out three over six scoreless. Portland’s big four of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel and Kristian Campbell went a combine

[Guardians]

3. Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
Age 23.8 Height 5′ 9″ Weight 170 Bat / Thr R / R FV 50
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
30/40 40/45 35/45 70/70 70/80 70

The emergence of Jarren Duran and injuries to Trevor Story and Vaughn Grissom have forced Rafaela into action at shortstop much more than I would have guessed at the start of the season. I’ve been of the mind that his elite center field defense would cause the Red Sox to deploy him out there regularly, but he looks quite good at short and the org has a much clearer need there than in the outfield, so perhaps we’ll see him do a mix of both for the long haul. His acrobatics are apparent at both positions, but especially in center, where Rafaela would be an all-world defender. Most super skinny SS/CF prospects wind up in the outfield due to a lack of arm strength, but Rafaela has improved enough in this area to feel more comfortable with him at shortstop regularly.

Even at 23, Rafaela still has a sinewy, projectable frame. He’s hit 20-21 bombs each of the last two seasons in the minors and is on pace to hit 15 in the big leagues this year, though you’re seeing his complete lack of plate discipline rear its ugly head in the majors as he walks at a paltry 3% clip. There is some risk of his offense totally bottoming out the way Cristian Pache‘s did, but here Rafaela is projected more like Kevin Pillar, though with peak years of superior power and greater defensive versatility.

4. Miguel Bleis, CF
Signed: International Signing Period, 2021 from Dominican Republic (BOS)
Age 20.3 Height 6′ 0″ Weight 170 Bat / Thr R / R FV 50
Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
20/45 55/60 30/55 55/55 30/50 60

Bleis signed for $1.5 million out of the Dominican Republic in January of 2021, and after a solid showing in the DSL that year, he created huge buzz on the complex in Fort Myers throughout 2022 because of his bat speed and power. He was on the short list of players who entered 2023 with a chance to “Chourio,” i.e. leap into the top 10 overall prospect mix within the next year. Instead, Bleis had a bad first month of full-season ball, subluxated his left shoulder during a swing at the end of May, and ended up needing season-ending surgery. Sent back to Low-A to start 2024, Bleis got off to a good start and was quickly promoted to Greenville, where the pace of play has been a bit of a rude awakening.

Bleis has all-world bat speed and rare rotational athleticism. His best swings produce shocking raw power for such a lithe young hitter, and he might still grow into more. He can go through stretches where his swing decisions are pretty terrible, but that has been much better so far in 2024. There’s some chase-related hit tool risk here, but if Bleis becomes more selective as he matures, he would have a complete (and very exciting) offensive skill set. He also has the speed and range to play center, but he’s procedurally raw when it comes to things like communicating with the other outfielders and where he decides to throw the baseball. That applies to pretty much every aspect of Bleis’ game — he’s fairly immature on the field in a way that evokes a young Jose Siri, as do his tools. In the days leading up to list publication, Bleis K’d on a pitch clock violation and misplayed multiple balls in play into extra base hits, one of the times half jogging to recover as the runner sprinted around the bases. At some point he’s going to need to grow up and iron that stuff out, but he’s too young and talented to exclude from this FV tier. A meteoric rise is unlikely as long as Bleis takes a somewhat unserious approach to this stuff, but over time, I believe his talent will shine in an everyday center field capacity.

[Guardians]

WASHINGTON -- There may not be a Mets prospect with more eyes on him than Luisangel Acuña. Around the baseball industry, the Mets’ ability to extract Acuña from the Rangers for Max Scherzer, on July 30, 2023, was largely considered a coup. But the 22-year-old Acuña is not without his doubters, making this season -- the youngster’s first at Triple-A -- a significant one.

So far, Acuña (Mets' No. 5 prospect, No. 93 overall) has passed most tests, acquitting himself well to the highest level of the Minors despite a few dry spells along the way. Over his last 20 games, Acuña is batting .337/.387/.477 with seven extra-base hits, 15 RBIs, six stolen bases and a very reasonable 14.9 percent strikeout rate.

“I think the resilience he showed the first half of the year, to where he is right now, is the best indicator that there’s future success out there in front of him,” Mets vice president of player development Andy Green said recently. “You keep that resilience about you, you’ll bounce back and you’ll make adjustments.”

Since Acuña arrived at Triple-A, Syracuse hitting coach Collin Hetzler and bench coach J.P. Arencibia have worked with him on handling velocity better, which has resulted in more pulled hits to left field. Team officials have been pleased with Acuña’s ability, as Green noted, to put himself “in some more repeatable positions” mechanically.

“He’s showing some of that ability, and he’s showing resilience,” Green said. “I think those are the most encouraging things. You can look at underlying metrics. You can evaluate it very closely. There are some things we like that we look at. But ultimately, are you resilient? Are you adaptable? If you’re both of those things, you have a really good chance at success.”

[Guardians]

Jacob Bresnahan, LHP, Guardians: All summer long, Bresnahan has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the Arizona Complex League. The southpaw, whom the Guardians selected out of high school in Washington in 2023, has rung up a league-best 59 hitters. He buttressed his claim to the top spot with his outing on Monday, when he fanned three Padres prospects over five sparkling frames. He allowed five hits and a run (unearned) while walking one.

[Astros]

Guardians wrote:

> So far, Acuña (Mets' No. 5 prospect, No. 93 overall) has passed most tests,
> acquitting himself well to the highest level of the Minors
>


the what now

[Guardians]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... et-8-6-24/

1. Emil Morales, SS, Dodgers

Team: DSL Dodgers Mega
Age: 17

Why He’s Here: .429/.520/1.143 (9-for-21), 8 R, 3 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 9 RBIs, 4 BB, 5 SO, 2-for-2 SB

The Scoop: Morales is one of the highest-profile prospects in the Dominican Summer League. He spent this past week showing off just why. The 17-year-old, who was the jewel of Los Angeles’ most recent international signing class, clubbed extra-base hits in a third of his at-bats. That total included four home runs, which brought his season total to an even dozen and put him past fellow Dodgers prospect Armando Lantigua for the league lead. His 1.163 OPS is also the best on the circuit. (JN)

4. Luis Morales, RHP, Athletics

Team: High-A Lansing (Midwest)
Age: 21

Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.87, 10.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO, 0 HR

The Scoop: Morales has shown over 17 starts why he’s considered one of the top prospects in the Athletics’ system and one of more talented young pitchers in the minors. He scattered four hits, a walk and one earned run across 10.1 innings and two turns in Lansing’s rotation last week. After a solid 4.1-inning showing on Tuesday, Morales dazzled over six scoreless on Sunday. He allowed three baserunners to reach on two hits and one hit by pitch while striking out six. Morales sat 96.4 mph on his fastball on Sunday, generating three whiffs against his fastball, four against his changeup and eight against his slider. Morales’ ability to miss bats and land all his pitches for strikes makes him a name to watch. There’s little holding him back from pushing for a MLB debut sometime in the summer of 2025. (GP)

[Guardians]

Top 20 Arizona Complex League Prospects For 2024

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... -for-2024/

11. Yassel Soler, 3B, D-backs
Age: 18 B-T: R-R Ht: 5-11 Wt: 185 Acquired: Dominican Republic, 2023

Soler’s first pro season was decent, but his potential truly shined through after moving stateside. The righty swinger packed one of the fiercest punches in the league, and his six home runs were the most on a team that played for the ACL title. Those highest on Soler saw a player with a powerful swing and a built-in ability to lift the ball while producing solid amounts of contact, as well. At third base, Soler has solid actions, a sound internal clock and arm strength that is at least above-average. Those attributes should allow him to stick at third base, where his bat will easily profile.

16. Samuel Sanchez, RHP, Dodgers
Age: 18 B-T: R-R Ht: 5-11 Wt: 155 Acquired: Venezuela, 2023

Sanchez threw just six innings in the Dominican Summer League in 2023 but made enough of an impression to jump stateside for his second pro season. Despite a smaller frame, the righthander brought his fastball into the upper 90s and pounded the strike zone with his entire arsenal, finishing the year with just seven walks in 34.1 innings. Sanchez’s bread and butter right now is his fastball-changeup combination, but he shows a solid feel to spin a pair of breaking pitches, as well. The next step will be to work to keep those breaking balls from blending together too closely.

20. Jacob Bresnahan, LHP, Guardians
Age: 19 B-T: L-L Ht: 6-4 Wt: 195 Acquired: HS—Sumner, Wash., 2023 (13th round)

The Pacific Northwest has treated the Guardians well of late. All-Star outfielder Steven Kwan and 2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana came from Oregon State, and they scored Bresnahan out of high school in Washington in 2023. The lefthander utilizes a three-pitch mix: A 91-95 mph fastball with solid shape that is backed by a slider and changeup. The slider garnered respective miss and chase rates of 46% and 38% but could improve further if Bresnahan improves his feel for spin, while the change showed solid potential, as well, despite it being used fairly infrequently. Cleveland dealt Bresnahan to San Francisco for righthander Alex Cobb.