Columbus roster continues to fluctuate; Watson debuts with Captains | Guardians minors roundup for Aug. 6

Triple-A Columbus Clippers (3-2) vs. St. Paul Saints (Twins)

Thanks to trades, call-ups and injuries, the Clippers roster was again in flux.

Infielder Jose Tena was sent up to Columbus in the stead of Brayan Rocchio, who was up in Cleveland due to trades. Tena went 1-3 with a walk and two-run double on Aug. 3, a 6-3 win for the Clippers. Then Tena was up in Cleveland due to Tyler Freeman’s injury and made his debut on Aug. 5 after Jose Ramirez was ejected for knocking out White Sox infielder Tim Anderson when he challenged Ramirez to a fight.

Angel Martinez got the bump from Akron to Columbus due to Tena’s callup and has gone 1-for-5 in his first two games with a double and a walk.

Since his own promotion, outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez has done nothing but hit. Through Aug. 6, he was 5-for-16 with three doubles and four RBI. He did have nine strikeouts and just one walk, however. Two of those doubles came on Aug. 5 in the Clippers’ 7-3 loss.

Offensively, Cleveland is waiting for George Valera to get things going in the right direction. He added two doubles and three RBI this past week, along with five walks, but was only 3-for-17 overall.

Perhaps Joey Cantillo is working toward earning himself a start in Cleveland sometime in September. He struck out six in 5 1/3 innings, walking just two and allowing three hits in the Clippers’ 7-0 win Aug. 4. He got 19 swings and misses and ran his fastball up to 98 mph in the start.

Speaking of brawls, former Reds and Royals reliever Amir Garrett, who was involved in a fight while with Cincinnati, made his Clippers debut on Aug. 5, striking out two and allowing a walk and hit in the process.

Pitcher Cody Morris has not appeared in a game since July 30, when he threw 28 pitches

Columbus will be making a trip north in Ohio to Toledo (Tigers) for a series starting Aug. 8.

Double-A Akron RubberDucks (4-2) vs. Somerset Patriots (Yankees)

Due to all the system movement, infielder Milan Tolentino joined the ‘Ducks this past week. After a 1-for-8 debut in his first two games, he doubled twice in Akron’s win on Aug. 6 and drove in three runs. In part of that win, outfielder Connor Kokx also made some noise by hitting a single, drawing a walk and stealing home.

Aaron Bracho, who was the Eastern League Player of the Week last week, was 6-for-19 through games on Aug. 6 with a homer and three RBI. He added two more hits and an RBI on Aug. 6 as well.

Juan Brito hasn’t appeared in a game since Aug. 3 due to a small fracture in his finger after a ball in fielding practice hit the tip of it. He’s not expected to miss much time, but Akron currently is already without Martinez and Tena.

Franco Aleman continues to be untouchable in Double-A, tossing a single scoreless outing this past week with a strikeout.

Lefty Will Dion shut down the Somerset lineup on Aug. 5, striking out five and walking two with four hits in 5 1/3 innings. Despite topping out at 90-91, Dion continues to find success against lineups in Double-A thanks to his command and strong offspeed stuff.

Fellow lefty and 2021 draftee, Doug Nikhazy, walked three and struck out four in his five-inning start on Aug. 2. He allowed two runs as Akron won, 4-2.

Akron heads to Harrisburg (Nationals) to start a series Aug. 8.

High-A Lake County Captains (0-5) at West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers)

Losing Milan Tolentino apparently had a big effect on the Captains, scoring just five runs in five games and getting shut out twice in the rain-shortened five-game series.

The biggest highlight of the week was Kahlil Watson’s debut on Aug. 3. The 2021 first-rounder was acquired from the Marlins at the deadline, and he went 2-for-4 with a homer on Aug. 3 in his first game in the Cleveland system. Watson, however, went 0-for-7 with five strikeouts over the next two games as Cleveland has some work to get Watson to be the player he has the potential to be.

Dayan Frias cooled off big time this week, going 1-for-14 with a homer.

Parker Messick did his part, firing five shutout innings on August 3 with six strikeouts, a walk, hit batsmen and a hit, until the Captains fell, 6-3.

Ethan Hankins turned in one of his better starts on Aug. 4, allowing only two unearned runs in 3 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking one and giving up four hits.

Aaron Davenport went a strong seven innings on Aug. 5, hitting a surprising 100 pitches for a starter at this level, and allowed three runs (two earned) while fanning six and walking three in the Captains’ 3-1 loss.

Lake County comes back home to host the South Bend Cubs on Aug. 8.

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats (3-2) at Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles)

20-year-old outfielder Wuilfredo Antunez had himself nearly a good week on Aug. 5 alone. Despite a 6-3 loss by the Hillcats, Antunez was 5-5 with two doubles, two RBI and a steal. He raised his season slash line from .265/.351/.396 to .280/.362/.416 in one game. He had a hot week, though, with five hits in the three other games he played, including a homer, double, triple and three RBI. He entered the week hitting .261/.354/.374.

Angel Genao didn’t have a strong total week, but had a couple of good games in a row. He was held hitless in three other contests, but had four hits between Aug. 2 and 3 with a homer, three doubles, and five RBI. The homer was his first of the year.

Shortstop Jose Devers had a similar week, going hitless in the first two games but had three hits between Aug. 3 and 4, adding a double and an RBI.

19-year-old catcher Robert Lopez homered in the Hillcats’ 8-2 win on Aug. 2 and again on Aug. 4, a 7-6 loss for Lynchburg.

2020 first-rounder Carson Tucker went back on the injured list this past week with a wrist sprain.

2022 draft pick out of UConn, Austin Peterson, continued to be the most reliable Hillcat in the rotation. He threw six shutout innings in the Aug. 2 win, allowing just a hit and striking out six.

Swingman Wardqulein Vazquez threw four no-hit innings on Aug. 5 and struck out seven while walking two as a tandem starter.

The Hillcats come home to host Fredericksburg (Nationals) on Aug. 8.

Complex League

18-year-old OF prospect Jaison Chourio is hitting .358/.494/.444 in 32 games in the Arizona Complex League. Jaison is the younger brother of 20-year-old Brewers prospect Jackson Chourio, widely considered a top-five prospect in baseball. The younger Chourio was 2-for-3 on Aug.5 in Arizona, walked twice and stole three bases.