Gonzalez tops Columbus hitters; Bieber, McKenzie continue path back to Cleveland | Guardians minors roundup for Sept. 17

Triple-A Columbus Clippers (2-4) at Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers)

The Clippers’ offense didn’t have a ton of consistency even though they hit several homers in their series at Toledo this week.

Oscar Gonzalez had the best week of any hitter, furthering his reputation to hit Triple-A pitching amid his struggles to carry it over into the majors and showing the large gap between the two. His homer as part of a 3-for-4 day led to a 6-0 win on Sept. 17. He also went 2-for-4 with a homer on Sept. 12 in the Clippers’ other win, 11-5.

First baseman Kyle Manzardo continued his solid run in Columbus by driving in four runs on the week despite an overall down series at Toledo. He hit his second homer with the Guardians org in a 1-for-3 performance on Sept. 14, an 8-3 loss for Columbus. He drove in a run on Sept. 12, 14 and 16.

George Valera hit one of the Clippers’ eight homers in the Toledo series, a 107 mph shot off the bat on Sept. 15, the only highlight of his and Columbus’ day in a 5-1 loss.

Now well past his 2022 workload, Joey Cantillo allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings on Sept. 14 to go along with four walks. He did fan eight batters in the start, though his fastball velocity sat closer to the 92-94 range than the 94-95 range he was getting to earlier this summer. Cantillo’s 114 innings pitched this year are a new career high for him, almost doubling his 60 2/3 a year ago. His previous high was 111 2/3 in 2019 while in Low-A/High-A in the Padres organization.

Shane Bieber made what should be his final rehab start before rejoining the Guardians for an appearance before the offseason. Bieber struck out seven and walked three in 3 2/3 no-hit innings on Sept. 17. He averaged 90-92 with his fastball and got Toledo hitters to swing and miss 11 times on 64 pitches.

Columbus will be the only show in town in the Guardians minor league system starting next week as it wraps up its 2023 season by hosting Omaha (Royals) Sept. 19-24.

Double-A Akron RubberDucks (2-2) vs. Altoona Curve (Pirates)

Shane Bieber also rehabbed at Akron earlier in the week, throwing 3 2/3 innings for the ‘Ducks on Sept. 12 in a 3-2 loss. He threw 66 pitches in that game and struck out four, walking one and hitting two batters. He also didn’t allow a hit in that outing and was generally around 90-92 again.

Triston McKenzie followed him to the mound the next night with three innings of rehab work where he allowed a run on a hit and a walk, while striking out four. His fastball reached 94 in the outing. His next rehab outing will come Sept. 19 for Columbus. He should rejoin the Guardians after that if all goes well.

The other name all eyes were on in Akron this final week was outfielder Chase DeLauter, making his Double-A debut before the end of the year and his AFL appearance.

He acclimated himself well in his one week of Double-A action in 2023, going 6-for-19 (.316/.391/.368) with a double, three RBI and three walks against three strikeouts through games on Sept. 16.

Lefty Will Dion tossed six shutout innings in his final start of 2023 on Sept. 15 and struck out eight. He also appeared to have ditched his throwing motion that emulated Clayton Kershaw, though the results continue to be good no matter what for Dion and his 91 mph fastball.

Reliever Franco Aleman ended his season on a strange note. He struck out 35 in 24 innings at Double-A and didn’t allow an earned run. However, in his final outing on Sept. 15, he made a pair of throwing errors, and the ‘Ducks made an error behind him as well, leading to three unearned runs allowed against the big right-hander. He allowed five unearned runs in those 24 innings, but three of those five were thanks to his own fielding errors, something he might need to clean up next season if he pushes himself into the conversation in the Guardians’ bullpen.

Akron ended its season on Sept. 17 against Altoona and none of Cleveland’s minor league affiliates made the playoffs in 2023.

Arizona Fall League rosters will be released this week with Guardians prospects playing for the Peoria Javelinas. Chase DeLauter is expected to be one of the prospects participating in the offseason league.