For a team like the Cleveland Guardians that doesn’t make huge splashes via trades or free agency, it’s monumentally important to have a strong developmental system. Cleveland’s pipeline has produced Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter, Parker Messick, Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo, Cade Smith, Angel Martinez, Brayan Rocchio, and plenty of other exciting young talents who are rapidly establishing themselves as the foundation of this entire organization.
As deep and talented as the big league roster is now, the pipeline is still pumping out more talent. There are more exciting potential young stars on the way, including one prospect who is quickly rising through the system faster than many expected.
Sam Dykstra, Jim Callis, and Jonathan Mayo collectively wrote an article for MLB.com highlighting the prospects in each team’s top 30 list that have made the biggest leaps. For the Guardians, they shouted out right-handed pitcher Justin Campbell, who was recently bumped up to Triple-A Columbus after beginning the year in High-A ball.
“It has been a good year for the Guardians’ system with Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter and Parker Messick all making impacts in Cleveland and Top 100 prospects Angel Genao, Ralphy Velazquez and Cooper Ingle holding serve. Right-hander Justin Campbell, a 2022 supplemental first-rounder, is finally making his pro debut after years of elbow issues and quickly has risen to Triple-A,” Dykstra, Callis, and Mayo wrote.
It is a stunning rise through the system for a guy who essentially missed four years due to injury. He has a 2.70 ERA in nine starts at Double-A and has a 2.61 ERA in 15 starts overall this season.
The 27 walks in 51.2 innings are concerning, but the 66 strikeouts over that time frame are impressive. Combine that with the fact that he just missed four years of action and he relies heavily on his fastball, and he has all the makings of somebody who can be a nice boost to Cleveland’s bullpen down the stretch if needed.
The former supplementary first-rounder is 25 years old and will have a lot of eyes on him when he makes his first start for Columbus soon. There are whispers of Cleveland being eager to add to the bullpen ahead of the trade deadline, but perhaps the Guardians can go back to their pipeline and find someone like Campbell worthy of a shot.
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