Saturday, August 02

Welcome back to the Guardians Beat newsletter. My name is Tim Stebbins, and this is my first season covering Cleveland for MLB.com.

PITTSBURGH -- C.J. Kayfus has hit at every level of the Minor Leagues since the Guardians selected him in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft. But in the early going this season, the 23-year-old first baseman has taken his game to another level.

Kayfus (the Guardians’ No. 8 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline) has come out of the gates scorching hot for Double-A Akron, having hit safely in all 12 games he’s played in. He entered Sunday slashing .444/.545/.733 with two doubles, four triples, one homer and 10 RBIs, with nine walks compared to 12 strikeouts.

“I would love for him to continue hitting .475 or whatever it is,” Guardians VP of player development Stephen Osterer quipped this week. “Unrealistic expectation. But he's crushing the ball right now.”

Sure, hitting at a near-.500 clip may not be a fair expectation, but Kayfus may be as well equipped to have a big year as he has ever been during his time in the Guardians’ farm system. 

Last season, Kayfus hit .291/.393/.511 in 107 games between High-A Lake County and Akron, where he was promoted on June 3. But over his final 31 games from August onward, he recorded a .181/.262/.293 slash line.

Kayfus’ body was a key focus of his work over the winter, to help him sustain his production for the course of the season.

“He put a lot of time in this offseason on the physical side,” Osterer said. “I think we saw that transfer into some of his movements in his swing, and then the idea is to continue to impact the ball, and he's already done that. We're seeing a really locked in version of him, in a great physical spot, and obviously off to a hot start. 

“We were obviously excited about him as a hitter last year and the progress he made in the offseason physically and the shape he's in. Hoping to see him continue to keep as much of a pace as he can to what he's doing right now.”

Kayfus is putting himself in position to potentially receive a promotion to Triple-A Columbus this season. Along with first base, where he’s played 887 2/3 innings over 102 games in the Minors, he’s seen extended time in left field (215 1/3 innings over 27 games). 

For now, the Guardians have been impressed by what they’ve seen out of the gate.

“He worked on the things he needed to work on in the offseason, so he was ready,” Osterer said. “There's definitely a piece of the mindset [that] he did perform last year in Akron. He performed, obviously, at both levels.

“But coming back to [Double-A] and taking it a step further is, obviously, the work he put in on the physical side, the work that he put in on the swing and approach side, but also just the mentality and the mindset that he wants to take on a challenge and wants to go punish a level, more or less. We're obviously seeing that play out a little bit here.”

Here is a look at other Guardians prospects who have started the 2025 season strong:

Triple-A Columbus: LHP Parker Messick

Messick (Cleveland’s No. 13 prospect, per MLB Pipeline) has enjoyed a steady climb up the Guardians’ farm system since they selected him in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Now in his first season with Columbus, the 24-year-old lefty has recorded a 2.57 ERA through three starts, having allowed four runs on 12 hits and five walks with 17 strikeouts over 14 innings.

High-A Lake County: SS Jose Devers

Devers (unranked) slashed .216/.289/.320 in 102 games last season, in his first taste of High-A. The 21-year-old is off to a hot start with the Captains this season, slashing .288/.383/.654 with seven doubles and four homers through 13 games. Cleveland signed him as an international free agent on July 2, 2019.

Single-A Lynchburg: RHP Jogly Garcia

Garcia (unranked) signed with Cleveland on April 12, 2022. The 21-year-old has recorded a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings over three appearances (one start), having allowed just two runs (one earned) with 20 strikeouts and four walks.

Now in his 13th season with the Guardians, José Ramírez is already one of the most decorated players in franchise history. On Friday, he continued his march up the Cleveland statistical leaderboards.

Ramírez smashed a double in the fifth inning of Friday’s 10-7 win over the Pirates, on a 108.9 mph line drive into the right-field corner. That moved him into fifth place in franchise history in doubles (368), breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau. Ramírez also tied Tris Speaker for second in franchise history in extra-base hits, with 667.

Ramírez has a bit to go to catch Speaker for the franchise record in doubles (486), but he’s closing in on Earl Averill (377) and Joe Sewell (375), who rank third and fourth. Averill holds the franchise record for extra-base hits (724), another milestone not far from Ramírez’s reach.

• Kyle Manzardo broke out of his slump with a home run into the Allegheny River, while Nolan Jones reached base three times with family on hand. Read more >>

• Luis L. Ortiz returned to Pittsburgh and turned in his latest quality performance amid a promising first month with the Guardians. Read more >>

• The MLB Pipeline team of Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo looked at a potential impact callup for all 30 teams. Read more >>

“Carlos just continues to amaze me. The way he takes care of his body, the way he prepares for every day. It takes a lot longer to get ready to play when you get up into your upper 30s, and Carlos is ready to go every day. He wants to play every day. He's off to a great start.” -- Guardians manager Stephen Vogt on 39-year-old Carlos Santana, who on Saturday joined Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen as the only active players to appear in 2,100 career games

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