In the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft, the Cleveland Guardians took a rock-solid offensive player.
First baseman C.J. Kayfus has hit in every level he has played in: Single-A, High-A, and Double-A.
Last year, the slugger posted a solid 139 wRC+ and 10 home runs in 67 Double-A games.
However, since he struck out 28.2 percent of the time at the level, the team wanted him to bring that down before considering a call-up to Triple-A.
The minor league season is very, very young still, but Kayfus is off to a fantastic start and not only made huge gains in contact (in the first few games, at least), but he has also retained the power that separates him from the rest.
He had another amazing game on Thursday.
“Cleveland #Guardians 23yr old (1B) prospect C.J. Kayfus reached base 3x tonight for Akron (1-2 2BB) against Altoona. He’s currently hitting .522 over his first six games of the season. 12-23 6R 2(2B) 1(3B) 1HR 7RBI 5BB. AVG .522, OBP .607, SLG .826, OPS 1.433,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.
Cleveland #Guardians 23yr old (1B) prospect C.J. Kayfus reached base 3x tonight for Akron (1-2 2BB) against Altoona.
He's currently hitting .522 over his first six games of the season.
12-23 6R 2(2B) 1(3B) 1HR 7RBI 5BB
AVG .522
OBP .607
SLG .826
OPS 1.433#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/TBIfD1HNMT— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 11, 2025
It’s only six games, sure, but if that’s any indication, he won’t be with the Akron RubberDucks for long.
Triple-A awaits if he can keep some of his contact gains for a few weeks.
Kayfus is highly regarded as a prospect, currently the eighth-best in the organization according to MLB Pipeline.
He won’t keep getting on base 60 percent of the time, no one does it over a full season.
However, the team does hope he can maintain the 14.4 percent strikeout rate he is currently running or something below the 20 percent mark.
He has been the talk of the RubberDucks to open the year, and for good reason.
NEXT: Guardians Underrated Prospect Throws Another Gem In Triple-A
