The number of rumors swirling meant it wasn't a big surprise for Cleveland fans when the Guardians traded Aaron Civale, but it was still pretty jarring to see made official.
And for most fans, when the intitial thought of "oh wow we really did move Civale" sunk in, the immediate follow-up was "who in the world is Kyle Manzardo?"
So I thought I'd help you out with a few key things you need to know about the Guardians newest prospect.
Things to Know About Kyle Manzardo
1. Manzardo is Already One of the Guardians' Top-Ranked Prospects
Kyle Manzardo was the No, 4 ranked prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. And while the Rays aren't exactly loaded with a ton of top-tier prospects, that's still not a ranking to scoff att.
Manzardo also checks in at No, 37 on MLB.com's top 100 prospects. There are only two Guardians (George Valera at No. 28 and Gavin Williams at No. 10) ranked ahead of Manzardo.
It's not just a recent surge of hype for Manzardo, as he was already sitting at No., 4 in the Rays' organization at the end of last season as well. He's established himself as a name to watch for a while now, and his development is coming along nicely.
2. Manzardo Can Swing a Bat
Manzardo burst onto the scene when he absolutely dominated at the dish in High-A to start the 2022 season. Then 21-turning-22-years-old, Manzardo slashed .329/.436/.636, racking up 17 home runs, 54 runs and 55 RBI across 63 games. His walk rate (16.4%) also basically matched his strikeout rate (16.7%).
Things didn’t fall off too much when he moved up to Double-A either, slashing .323/.402/.576 across 30 games. Not too shabby for a 22-year-old.
As you'd expect, he's having a harder time with Triple-A pitching but it’s not like he’s been any kind of a slouch, either. Hitting for a triple-slash of .238/.342/.442 with 11 homers, 33 runs and 38 RBI across 73 games still shows plenty of promise, especially with his walk rate remaining strong at 13.4%.
That low average and his 20.8% strikeout rate suggest that we're probably looking at 2024 before he finds his way into the Guardians lineup (and maybe 2025 by the time we see a true breakout, but there's more than enough encouraging signs to point to him becoming a legit offensive contributor in Cleveland.
3. Manzardo Bucked the Trend at Washington State
Manzardo came into the MLB as a pretty polished prospect after playing three years of college ball at Washington State, even though Washington State isn't usually a place you'd expect to generate much MLB talent.
Manzardo was named a first-team All-American as a Junior in 2021, which was the first time the Cougars had one of those since 1990. His No. 63 overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft also made him the highest drafted Cougar of his lifetime, with the last Washington State player to be drafted higher was Scott Hatteberg back in 1991 (No. 43 overall).
Cougars haven't had much success at the MLB level as of late. Only two Cougars have made an All-Star team in this century — Aaron Sele in 2000 and John Olerud in 2001.
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