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Gonzalez, Noel have strong weeks at the plate | Guardians minors roundup for July 2

Oscar Gonzalez talks with teammates while with the Guardians earlier this season. (Phil Long – The Associated Press)
Oscar Gonzalez talks with teammates while with the Guardians earlier this season. (Phil Long – The Associated Press)
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Triple-A Columbus Clippers (3-1) vs. Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers)

It’s just one week, but two offensive prospects everyone has been hoping to see some signs of improvement on for the Guardians, Oscar Gonzalez and Jhonkensy Noel, put together some good results.

For Gonzalez, his big day was a walk-off hit on June 28 in an 11-10 win for the Clippers, capping off a 3-for-5 day, including a walk. His earlier big moments came off of Tigers rehabbing left-handed starter, Tarik Skubal, as Gonzalez has been performing well against left handers since his demotion. Gonzalez also had a double and a homer and two more on July 1. He put together a .327/.364/.592 June line and a .444/.474/.722 line on the week through July 1.

Noel had a homer and six RBI, mostly buoyed by a grand slam that tied the Clippers and Mud Hens at 9-9 on June 28 that allowed Gonzalez to later come up with the walk-off hit. Noel hit .353/.389/.647 on the week and slugged .432 in June, but hit .205/.278 with 28 strikeouts and eight walks, so he’ll need a lot more of these weeks to start showing signs of a prospect who can be considered to hit good big-league pitching any time soon.

Daniel Schneemann, not considered a prospect anywhere, hit .389/.450/.778 on the week with two homers and four RBI, and the 26-year-old is hitting .307/.412/.492 this year while playing all over the infield for the Clippers. He’ll be a minor-league free agent at the end of the year and there’s probably no path for him to play in the majors in Cleveland, but he’ll at least get a shot somewhere else this offseason.

For those waiting for George Valera to help the Guardians offense, he went 2-for-16 with three RBI, five strikeouts and two walks in the four games he played through July 1.

Pitching obviously hasn’t been the strongest for the Clippers with all of the call-ups to the majors. Not a prospect, but Zach Plesac finally returned from a stint on the developmental list after being designated for assignment to allow two runs on four hits and three walks in four innings. Cody Morris continues to work out of the bullpen, making one appearance lasting 1 2/3 innings with two walks. James Karinchak continues to be able to get Triple-A hitters out with four strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Clippers finish off their series with the Mud Hens on July 2, then play a rare Monday game on July 3. They then head to Nashville to play the Stars (Brewers) July 4-9.

Double-A Akron RubberDucks (1-3) at Erie SeaWolves (Tigers)

While there’s not a lot of outfielders in the system at the moment outside of Valera and the lower minors to get excited about, 23-year-old Johnathan Rodriguez had a scorching June for Akron. He hit .500/.571/.917 for the week with two doubles and a homer and .358/.435/.632 with six doubles and six homers in June, striking out 29 times and walked 11 times. He went 2-for-3 with a double in Akron’s 1-0 win June 30 and then 2-3 again with a double on July 1 in the ‘Ducks loss. He has an aggressive approach and swing and miss issues but is 23 and producing.

Aaron Bracho, who has had stretches this year of showing some shadow of being the hitter Cleveland signed in the international draft class in 2016 and hit four homers in May, but none in June until his homer in Akron’s loss in game two of a doubleheader on June 30, 6-2. Despite only hitting one homer in June, Bracho hit .296/.356/.426, which is probably one of the best months of his entire minor-league career.

Juan Brito couldn’t muster a hit all week, going 0-for-8 in three games but had two sacrifice flies in the July 1 loss.

Doug Nikhazy rebounded from a rough start last week to have a good, but very Doug Nikhazy type start. He tossed five scoreless innings and allowed three hits, but he walked five and struck out six. Nikhazy is hard to hit when he’s on but manages to walk plenty and gets away with it in the minors.

Reliever Davis Sharpe picked up a three inning win this week and fanned five, walking one in his hitless outing.

Akron wraps up its series in Erie on July 2 and July 3, then comes home to host Harrisburg (Nationals) July 4-9.

High-A Lake County (2-2) vs. Fort Wayne Tin Caps (Padres)

The biggest news for the Captains this week was getting Guardians 2022 first round pick Chase DeLauter (foot) off the injured list for his first affiliate experienced after being drafted a year ago. He went 1-for-7 in his first two games, notching his first single in the Captains’ 5-3 win on July 1. He also made a great play jumping into the wall to make a catch. Early on he is not playing in back to back games much.

There aren’t a lot of hitters in Lake County who could see a promotion soon, but one could be Jorge Burgos. He hit another homer and double this week, hitting ..300/.364/.700 and is hitting .249/.349/.403 on the year.

Infielder Dayan Frias didn’t have a great week at the dish, but saved it on July 1 with a big homer and double in the Captains’ 5-3 win, though he did trot like he had a homer when he hit the double. Frias plays all over the infield very well, shows good zone awareness and has some speed as well.

Justin Boyd, part of the return for Will Benson late this winter, didn’t hit much this week but had six walks and just three strikeouts.

Infielder Nate Furman has struggled since his promotion to Lake County (.191/.303/.234) but tripled in the July 1 win and finished the first four games of the series hitting .300/.417/.500.

Trenton Denholm turned in the top pitching performance of the first four games of the series, tossing five shutout innings in the nightcap of the double header on June 30, allowing just two hits and striking out seven despite topping out at 92. The Captains’ bullpen lost that game, 4-2.

2022 draft pick, LHP Parker Messick, made his High-A debut after a good stint in Low-A to start his career. He struck out Padres top prospect Jackson Merrill three times for three of four of his strikeouts, but he also surrendered three homers in his 4 1/3 innings and walked three others in the Captains loss on on June 29.

The Captains got relievers Shawn Rapp and Magnus Ellerts, part of the 2022 draft class, as reinforcements this week.

Lake County and Fort Wayne wrap up the series with games July 2 and July 3 before the Captains head to Lansing to face the Lugnuts (Blue Jays) July 4-9.

Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats (2-3) vs. Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles)

2022 draft pick, OF Angel Zarate, missed much of May and the first half of June, but has returned hitting as well as he did when he left with his hamstring injury. He hit .300/.500/.800 with a homer in the three games he played during the week, hitting .320/.370/.520 in June if you include his six rehab games in Arizona. For the year he’s hitting 315/.422/.441. The 23-year-old needs a chance at High-A soon.

Shortstop Jose Devers went 7-for-19 on the week with three doubles and two RBI. After posting .161/.245/.184 in May, Devers hit .343/.403/.500 in June and added five steals. He went 3-for-5 with two doubles in the Hillcats 13-0 win on June 30.

Intriguing infield prospect Juan Benjamin went 5-for-15 on the week and added his second homer of the year in their July 2 loss to Delmarva.

Young infield prospect Angel Genao, a former top international signing, had a tough week going just 1-for-11, adding his lone hit on the July 2 loss, going 1-for-4.

Lynchburg did get plenty of good pitching during the week, as 2022 draft pick Austin Peterson turned in one of the best performances of the year, going eight shutout innings on June 30 in the Hillcats 13-0 win. He allowed just two hits, no walks and struck out two.

Yorman Gomez two days earlier on June 28 also posted a career best performance, striking out six in six innings, scattering three hits in the Hillcats’ 3-0 win.

The Hillcats lost, 6-4, on July 1, but Braunny Munoz tossed four shutout innings out of the bullpen with one hit and five strikeouts despite the loss.

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