When discussing the Cleveland Guardians’ farm system, it’s fair to say that it has many quality position player prospects.
Their first six prospects according to MLB Pipeline are hitters, as well as eight of the first nine and 11 of the first 13.
However, don’t think, even for a second, that there aren’t quality arms on the system.
Pitching prospects on the Guardians might not have the highest upside (an important factor at the time of doing rankings by MLB Pipeline and every other prospect evaluating publication), but they do get results thanks to their own talent and the incredible player development staff on the team.
The numbers say that when it comes to run prevention, bat-missing and strike-throwing ability, Cleveland’s pitching prospects had an amazing 2024.
“There were only 34 pitchers that finished with an (ERA under 3.00) and (120+ SO) on the 2024 season in all minor league baseball. The Cleveland #Guardians had six of them! Matt Wilkinson – 1.90 ERA / 174 SO, Austin Peterson – 2.64 ERA / 159 SO, Ryan Webb – 2.80 ERA / 151 SO, Parker Messick – 2.83 ERA / 165 SO, Aaron Davenport – 2.85 ERA / 135 SO, Doug Nikhazy – 2.98 ERA / 124 SO,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.
There were only 34 pitchers that finished with an (ERA under 3.00) and (120+ SO) on the 2024 season in all minor league baseball.
The Cleveland #Guardians had six of them!
Matt Wilkinson – 1.90 ERA / 174 SO
Austin Peterson – 2.64 ERA / 159 SO
Ryan Webb – 2.80 ERA / 151 SO…— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) January 4, 2025
The best thing of all, for Cleveland at least – not so much for opposing teams – is that many of those names are close to the majors.
Perhaps that’s the reason why the Guardians haven’t been as aggressive as previously anticipated in the free agent pitching market: they know they have some potential solutions in-house.
All those six pitchers with the exception of ‘Tugboat’ Wilkinson saw regular season time in Double-A or Triple-A.
There might not be a future ace in that group, but even cheap backend starters have a lot of value for an MLB organization, and some of them have mid-rotation upside.
NEXT: Wholesome Video Shows Guardians Prospect Pulling His Own Card For The First Time
