3 Cleveland Guardians prospects you should be paying attention to during Spring Training

What Cleveland Guardians are putting up the best stats so far during Spring Training?

The Cleveland Guardians, as of press time are 10 games through their Spring Training romp and sit at a pointless 4-5-1. I say pointless because it’s Spring Training, it’s about working off the rust and seeing who’s improved and who’s declined in the offseason. The record is meaningless and not an indicator of what the club can and will do in the regular season. Most spring training stats, like records, aren’t very honest.

You’re not always facing major league talent and you’re not always playing every day. So having a huge Spring Training doesn’t mean you’re bound for a huge regular season. The inverse is true for those who struggle. That said, I thought it’d be fun to look at some minor-league players who are, at the moment, doing very well.

We’re not just going to rely on their Spring Training, but their successes at the minor league level and see who may just be ready to get called up.

The reason we’re looking at just minor leaguers is that Jose Ramirez, Josh Bell, Andres Gimenez, and others have mostly just played five games. And for what it’s worth, Ramirez is hitting over .400 in just five games, so he’s clearly going to win every award this year while doubling Joe Dimaggio’s record.  Obviously.

3 Cleveland Guardians who you should be paying attention to during Spring Training?

1B Micah Pries

Micah Pries is an older prospect at 24 years old, but he’s currently one of the better hitters to watch out for. Pries, who’s a tall first-basemen, has 5 hits, and no singles so far. He has two doubles, a triple, and two home runs while hitting 5 RBIs, scoring 4 runs, and walking once. He is striking out a bit, three times through just eight games and 15 at-bats, but he’s making up for it with a killer split of .333/.412/1.000 and an OPS of 1.412. Counting his collegiate and minor league career, Pries is a .302 hitter with 65 home runs to his name in just 1,460 at-bats. That’s about 28 or so home runs across a regular season of baseball. He’s my pick to be the next Steven Kwan, a guy who has succeeded at all levels and will again in the majors. His first season in Akron last year saw him hit .266, with 18 home runs and 73 RBIs.

SS Juan Brito

When the Cleveland Guardians traded Nolan Jones to the Colorado Rockies for Juan Brito, no one really knew what to expect. He was a consistent .290+ hitter in his first two seasons in Colorado’s minor leagues, and at 21 has a huge upside. He doesn’t have great power over but does for a middle infielder. What has really caught my eye this spring training, however, is his ability to be patient at the plate. Something Jones struggled with. While he only has a .222 average, he has a .588 OBP, namely because he has eight walks in just nine at-bats (17 plate appearances). That kind of patience will make Terry Francona and the front office very happy. He’s largely been a pretty even guy when it comes to walks vs. strikeouts, but he’s clearly improving by walking more and striking out less.

SP Peyton Battenfield

A former collegiate reliever turned starter, Peyton Battenfield is one of the more impressive arms this Spring Training who isn’t a guy with Major Leauge experience already. Through two appearances so far, he’s pitched 4.0 innings, with four strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA. Historically in the minors, the 25-year-old has been stable and consistent. Since turning pro, he’s never had an ERA over 3.70 in a season and can get a fair amount of strikeouts, posting 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 2021. He doesn’t get beat often but when he does, it’s often via the home run ball, but considering the magic that Carl Willis has done with other starters, Battenfield could very easily turn into a top-tier starter in Cleveland.