Manzardo joins Triple-A Columbus | Guardians minors roundup for Aug. 27

Triple-A Columbus Clippers (3-3) vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins)

The Columbus lineup is now deep with 40-man roster and interesting position player prospects. The Guardians must find out about their futures soon thanks to first baseman Kyle Manzardo finishing his rehab and being activated on the Clippers’ roster this past week. The first baseman who came over from Tampa Bay in the Aaron Civale trade made his non-complex league Cleveland system debut on Aug. 24. As the DH, Manzardo walked, struck out and went 0-for-3 as Columbus lost 8-4.

Manzardo, a left-handed hitter, doubled off a lefty in his first at-bat and later added an RBI single on Aug. 26, a 4-2 Clippers win. He did strike out in his other at-bat on a 2-4 day. He added a nice diving play at first base in his first start there.

Bryan Lavastida is trying to prove the Guardians should take another chance on him as part of their future with his strong resurgence in the last few months in the minors. The backstop went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the Aug. 24 loss, but then added a double and homer in the Aug. 25 8-7 win. He’s now hitting .263/.346/.444 at Columbus as he now contends with Eric Haase and David Fry for backup catcher reps in the system.

Speaking of Fry, he appeared in a game as the DH in a rehab start on Aug. 26, and went 2-for-3 with a homer as he comes back from a hamstring strain.

For a while, the bench was thin in Columbus and gave Angel Martinez an opportunity in Triple-A after a slow first half in Double-A. The switch-hitting infielder turned it around and earned the promotion. He went 8-for-16 in four games with a homer, but was sent back to Double-A over the weekend.

Brayan Rocchio being sent back to Triple-A might have soaked up some of Martinez’s playing time. He was struggling in the majors and hit for no power before his promotion, but in his first two games back in Columbus he added a homer and a double.

Cal Quantrill also appeared in a rehab outing on Aug. 26, going 7 1/3 innings and allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two. He threw 83 pitches and may be ready to rejoin Cleveland when rosters expand in September for his next start.

Finally, outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez hasn’t stopped hitting. Through games on Aug. 26, he went 5-for-17 with a homer, and has nine homers in Triple-A, giving him 27 on the year overall. However, he does have 40 strikeouts and just nine walks in Triple-A so far.

Columbus starts a road series at St. Paul (Twins) Aug. 29.

Double-A Akron RubberDucks (2-4) at Altoona Curve (Pirates)

At one time, Aaron Bracho was a top international free-agent prospect in Cleveland’s signing class in 2017. A poor 2021 and 2022 season left him as a potential bust. He’s had a resurgent year, including a 6-for-18 week this past week with a homer, double, four RBI and seven walks (.313/.476/.563). However, he was charged with four errors on the week between second base and third base.

Akron didn’t boast much offensively this week outside of Bracho, but it did manage to put eight runs on the board August 26, though they lose 9-8. They put four runs on the board in the first inning against 2023 first overall pick Paul Skenes, in his Double-A debut, a game that was a sellout. Petey Halpin was the catalyst in that one with a leadoff single and a steal.

In a tough week for pitching as well, but Will Dion kept it close on August 24 in a 2-1 loss by shutting the Curve out through 4 2/3 innings on five hits, a walk and struck outt five. In relief, Mason Hickman this week pitched six innings over two appearances with just an unearned run allowed while fanning six and walking two. The tall Vanderbilt pitcher from the 2020 draft now has 71 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings this year.

Jack Leftwich is ending the season on a strong note as he turned in an outing where he allowed one earned run (two total) in 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and no walked on August 24 behind Dion in the 2-1 loss.

Reliever Franco Aleman continues to pitch like Cleveland’s next big time bullpen prospect, striking out three in two more scoreles innings this week only surrendering a walk. He now has 29 strikeotus in 19 1/3 innings at Double-A with five hits, three walks in 13 innings.

Infielder Martinez added a grand slam in his first game back in Akron.

Akron comes home to face Bowie (Orioles) and top prospect Jackson Holliday, in what could drive more high attendance numbers, on August 29.

High-A Lake County Captains (4-2)

Lake County continues to play hot with offense sparking the run. 2023 first-rounder Chase DeLauter didn’t have a ton of hits this past week, but four of his six hits went for extra bases, two doubles and two homers. His two-run homer helped the Captains to a 9-6 win on Aug. 22 that took extra innings to lock in. He hit a three-run homer in a 6-3 for Lake County on Aug. 26. He added two doubles in a 1-0 win on Aug. 27, and totaled seven RBI for the week.

Jake Fox continued his torrid August, going 7-for-21 with two doubles, three RBI, and five walks, despite going 0-for-4 in the finale. Fox also had a big catch and an outfield assist at home to keep the Aug. 22 game tied in extra innings before Lake County could pull it out. Through Aug. 26, Fox is hitting .314/.392/.471 and has played strong defense in the outfield.

Infielder Kahlil Watson was also held hitless in the finale but did have a pair of three-hit days on Aug. 24 and 26, adding three doubles and two RBI across those two games.

On the ledger for Captains pitching, lefty Steven Hajjar sure had an interesting week. In his first start on Aug. 22, Hajjar walked nine batters in 3 1/3 innings, but only allowed one run and one hit while striking out five.Hajjar started the finale on Aug. 27, and walked only two in five innings, allowing just two hits and struck out five in the 2-0 win.

Ethan Hankins turned in the longest outing of his career on Aug. 25, going six innings and allowing two runs on five hits, walking three and striking out three in a 3-2 loss.

Lake County will stay on the road to face Cedar Rapids (Twins) starting Aug. 29.

Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats (3-3) vs. Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles)

Pitching gave Lynchburg the chance to split the series with Delmarva this past week, but the biggest story coming from the Hillcats was the addition of outfielder Jaison Chourio to the roster. The 18-year-old was a member of the Guardians 2022 international signing class and hit .349/.476/.463 in the Arizona Complex League this summer, which wrapped up this week. In Chourio’s first two games outside of the rookie leagues, he doubled for his only hit but walked four times, struck out twice and walked once.

Outfielder Guy Lipscomb came off the IL from a fractured wrist to go 5-for-14 with four triples on the week, six RBI and a steal.

There wasn’t a lot of other offense but Wuilfredo Antunez was 5-for-19 on the week and Angel Genao added the only homer on Aug.24 in the Hillcats’ 4-3 win, which was tied for the most runs they scored all week.

Lefty Adam Tulloch had two starts on the week, but the strongest came in the 4-3 Aug. 27 win where he allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings with a walk and five strikeouts.

Austin Peterson turned in another strong start allowing a run in five innings with six strikeouts and three walks in a 4-3 loss on Aug. 25.

Lefty Jordan Humphries continued to move on from his disastrous first start by throwing four innings in the 4-3 win Aug. 24, allowing a run on three hits with two walks and three punchouts.

Lynchburg heads to Fredericksburg (Nationals) this week to start a series on Aug. 29.