Meet the Guardians' Minor Leaguers

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And _subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox._

Just because the Major League season is underway doesn’t mean we forget about all the prospects who filtered through Spring Training over the past two months (or even those who remained on the Minor League side).

Now that all the Cleveland affiliates have begun their seasons, let’s take a look at each roster, as it was announced on its respective team’s Opening Day:

TRIPLE-A COLUMBUS

Pitchers: Logan Allen (Guardians’ No. 8 prospect, as ranked by MLB Pipeline), Caleb Baragar, Peyton Battenfield, Tanner Bibee (No. 5), Brett Daniels, Philip Diehl, Michael Kelly, Kyle Marman, Dan Norris, Luis Oviedo, Konnor Pilkington, Thomas Ponticelli, Jhon Romero, Adam Scott, Touki Toussaint

Catchers: Bo Naylor (No. 4), Zack Collins, David Fry, Eric Rodriguez

Infielders: Tyler Freeman, Micah Pries, Brayan Rocchio (No. 6), Daniel Schneemann

Outfielders: Jhonkensy Noel (No. 20), Richie Palacios, Roman Quinn, Chris Roller, George Valera (No. 3)

Soon, Triple-A will turn into a Naylor and Bibee watch party for Guardians fans. There’s no shortage of interesting players in Columbus, including guys like Allen, Rocchio, Noel and Pries (who had a great Spring Training). But it’ll be hard for the spotlight to fall on anyone but Bibee or Naylor early in the season.

Bibee gained more and more attention as the season went on last year and now, if the Guardians have an opening in their rotation, he could be an option. Bibee has only made one start this year, but he tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.

Naylor doesn’t need much of an explanation. The Guardians have needed offensive production from their catchers over the last few years. Mike Zunino has shown he may be able to provide that from time to time. But if his defensive struggles continue, there may be an even bigger need for Naylor. It also doesn’t hurt to mention Naylor already has two homers and nine RBIs in eight games.

DOUBLE-A AKRON

Pitchers: Trey Benton, Tanner Burns (No. 22), Joey Cantillo (No. 19), Ross Carver, Brett Daniels, Bradley Hanner, Mason Hickman, Jordan Jones, Randy Labaut, Jack Leftwich, Shane McCarthy, Doug Nikhazy (No. 30), Davis Sharpe, Cade Smith, Hunter Stanley, Gavin Williams (No. 2)

Catchers: Michael Amditis, Michael Berglund, Bryan Lavastida

Infielders: Aaron Bracho, Raynel Delgado, Angel Martínez (No. 10), Joe Naranjo, Gabriel Rodriguez, Jose Tena (No. 24)

Outfielders: Julian Escobedo, Petey Halpin (No. 17), Connor Kokx, Johnathan Rodriguez

It’s hard to believe Williams is still in Double-A. Yes, there are a lot of pitchers to balance throughout this organization, but Williams is arguably the most exciting arm in the system (at least until Daniel Espino can get healthy) and it won’t take long for him to make his way up to the next level. In 16 starts with Akron last year, he owned a 2.70 ERA with 82 strikeouts and 26 walks in 70 innings.

HIGH-A LAKE COUNTY

Pitchers: Alaska Abney, Franco Aleman, Jaime Arias, Rodney Boone, Aaron Davenport, Trenton Denholm, Will Dion, Elvis Jerez, Reid Johnston, Tommy Mace, Sergio Morillo, Tyler Thornton, Lenny Torres, Ryan Webb, Josh Wolf Catchers: Joe Donovan, Victor Planchart, Micael Ramirez

Infielders: Will Bartlett, Juan Brito (No. 18), Christian Cairo, Jake Fox (No. 12), Dayan Frias, Junior Sanquintin, Milan Tolentino (No. 25), Yordys Valdes

Outfielders: Jorge Burgos, Isaiah Greene, Cesar Idrogo, Joe Lampe

Every spring, the Guardians bring some Minor League players over during their big league games to fill later innings of their matchups. Lampe was one who impressed everyone in sight. I still have vivid images of José Ramírez and Amed Rosario running to the dugout's top step, clapping with their hands above their heads, cheering on Lampe’s hustle.

Plus, the experts at MLB Pipeline picked a player from each team’s farm systems as the most likely breakout prospect and Fox was the standout to them.

“He’s really fun to watch,” Guardians assistant general manager James Harris told Pipeline. “He’s an under-the-radar guy who works hard and shows up and helps your team.”

SINGLE-A LYNCHBURG

Pitchers: Reny Artiles, Magnus Ellerts, Yeury Gervacio, Yorman Gomez, Zach Jacobs, Jack Jasiak, Parker Messick (No. 21), Braunny Munoz, Austin Peterson, Shawn Rapp, Alonzo Richardson, Adam Tulloch, Samuel Vasquez, Wardquelin Vasquez, Miguel Vinicio, Juan Zapata

Catchers: Zac Fascia, Marc Filia, Manuel Mejias

Infielders: Juan Benjamin, Maick Collado, Jose Devers, Nate Furman, Jose Pastrano, Tyresse Turner

Outfielders: Wuilfredo Antunez (No. 27), Pres Cavenaugh, Guy Lipscomb, Lexer Saduy, Angel Zarate

This is a younger group, but the Guardians still have some Top 30 prospects on their Single-A roster. The 20-year-old Antunez was signed in Cleveland’s 2018-19 international class and has been limited in his play due to leg injuries over the last few years. But he has the potential to hit for both power and average.