The Cleveland Guardians were defeated by the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, four games to one. Game 3 saw two dramatic late-inning home runs that kept the Guardians alive. Game 5 featured a dramatic three-run home run off the bat of Juan Soto, however, ending the Guardians’ valiant postseason run.
Three Prospects The Guardians Need For A World Series
Despite the loss, the Guardians have once again managed to defy expectations and go on a deep October run. The season looked over earlier this year, after ace Shane Bieber went down with a Tommy John procedure. Under the command of rookie manager Stephen Vogt and a group of dedicated ballplayers, the marched on.
As their season comes to a crushing end, the question now becomes what were the major faults that ended their season? Do they have anyone in their field that could help shore up their roster for an even deeper run next year? Here are three prospects that might help answer some of the Guardians’ biggest questions.
1) OF Chase DeLauter (#41 Overall Prospect)
2024 (Three Teams): .261/.341/.841; 10 doubles; 8 home runs; 24 RBIs; 19 BB to 22 K; 1 SB
Not accounting for Game 5, the Guardians hitting was as solid as you could ask for. The team hit a .252/.343/.756 slash line, with five home runs and swiping five bases. This is actually an improvement over their line against the Detroit Tigers, with all categories increasing.
That being said, picking out a single point of failure for this team’s offense is difficult. The only real issue here is the Guardian’s 8-for-41 at-bats with runners in scoring position, just under .200.
In addition, Lane Thomas, who was a hero in the Division Series, went quiet by going 2-for-12. It seems like the right field position was by-committee, featuring players such as Will Brennan and Jhonkensey Noel.
Chase DeLauter might be the guy that would bring long-term stability and potential runs across the plate next year.
DeLauter is a 23-year-old outfielder that only has two years of professional baseball under his belt. Despite that, he’s made the most of those two years, never going under .800 OPS or having his strikeout-to-walk ratio eclipse 2:1.
The young outfielder has faced a turbulent 2024 campaign when it came to injuries, suffering a broken foot, a toe injury and a hamstring strain. This could explain his dip in production, as he only played in 39 games this year. However, he has made an impact in the shortened season.
DeLauter seems to be balancing more of his raw power along with gap power, as his doubles and home run numbers were almost even this year. In addition, he also seems to have a very good eye, as his walk-to-strikeout ratio is nearly 1:1. His numbers, albeit a small sample size, don’t really warrant much criticism, he’s an excellent player when healthy.
Fielding was an issue for Cleveland during the series, something that DeLauter seems to be very good at. Out of 57 potential chances, DeLauter did not make a single error and actually had three assists.
Provided he can stay healthy going forward, expect DeLauter to be an every-day right fielder, or perhaps a fourth outfielder. Either way, his production is very valuable for a team that seemed to struggle with runners in scoring position.
2) RHP Andrew Walters (#21 Organizational Prospect)
2024 (Two Teams): 4-0; 50.1 IP; 2.32 ERA; 25 BB and 33 H (1.15 WHIP); 5 HR (1 HR/9); 79 K (14 K.9); .180 OBA
As we head to the pitching side of the Guardians, now we can see the main reason why the series went the way it did. The back of the bullpen, primarily all-star closer Emmanuel Clase and Hunter Gaddis, collapsed.
Not including Game 5, Clase was rocked with a 27 ERA and a WHIP over 5, uncharacteristic for the best closer in the regular season. Gaddis, who had a seasonal WHIP of .763, ended up with a 12 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The rest of the bullpen were either mediocre or used sparingly.
For a tea that came in with the most feared bullpen in the league, with four guys with WHIPs under 1 including Cade Smith and Tim Herrin, this was a failure of major proportions. Performance and environment are easy excuses, but this team needs another reliable arm going forward.
Luckily, Andrew Walters appears to be a fast-rising prospect that can offer a lot for the bullpen.
Before getting into the numbers, Walters did pitch nine innings in the MLB. Therefore, we can look at some of his metrics and other relevant data to determine some of his effectiveness.
Walter has only two pitches, being a four-seam fastball and a slider. His slider seems to be league-average in terms of break and movement, but his four-seamer has more rise.
With this profile, Walters has been able to hoist a 34% whiff rate, alongside a low barrel and hard-hit rate. While it is a small sample size, his fastball velocity puts him near the top-20 percent of all right-handed pitchers and very high in multiple categories.
As for his numbers, Walters had an impressive strikeout rate of 14 over nine innings and a walk rate of 4.5 per nine innings. While his home run rate appeared to be average, his opponent batting average was very low, while his groundout-to-airout ratio settled at .5:1, meaning there were two ground balls for every flyball.
What’s more impressive is that this all occurred in the span of a single year. Drafted in 2023, he did not see the mound until this year. Since then, he’s made a case for himself. Definitely expect to see him in the second-half of 2025, perhaps on the playoff roster should the Guardians get there.
3) LHP Doug Nikhazy (#24 Organizational Prospect)
2024 (Two Teams): 7-4; 123.2 IP; 82 hits and 53 BB (1.09 WHIP); 12 HR (1 HR/9); 124 K (9 K/9); .192 OBA
As for the Guardians’ starting pitching, it didn’t fare well either. Tanner Bibee, their current ace in lieu of Bieber, was rocked in Game 2. He did pull it together in Game 5, shutting the Yankees down for six innings of work.
As for Gavin Williams, he held a 11.57 ERA. Alex Cobb, a free-agent pickup, sported a WHIP of 3 in his lone start. Matthew Boyd had the best start, throwing five innings of one-run ball in Game 3.
Regardless, this series showed an alarming indictment for the Guardians rotation. The team needs another good ace in the event Bieber can’t come back strong or if Bibee falls to Tommy John surgery. If they can’t address it, their pitching is at risk during the playoffs.
Thankfully, Doug Nikhazy appears to give a solid answer to the question of the rotation.
The 25-year-old is likely one of the more underrated prospects for this organization, giving his improving numbers and consistency. This year, he posted his best ERA, WHIP, opponent batting average and most innings thrown this year.
Where he has stayed consistent is the number of strikeouts he’s thrown per year. While his strikeout rate per nine innings has dropped somewhat, he’s consistently throwing 120 strikeouts per year. In addition, his walks thrown decreased to 53.
What’s more impressive is that he did most of this while at Triple-A, carrying a .195 OBA and a 7-3 record. He did surrender eight home runs, slightly above the average of one home run per nine innings, but he’s settled comfortably where he is at.
Look for Nikhazy to be a sleeper candidate for the rotation in 2025. After this year’s performance, the Guardians need all the help they can get to fix their pitching problems for a potential world series run.
Main Photo Credits: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
