Guardians running out of excuses as red-hot top prospect forces roster issue

On Thursday, the Guardians offense put together a feat that hadn’t been done in 14 years when they became the first team in 14 years to lose a nine-inning game without striking out. 

Although the Guardians only missed on 51 of their 53 swings, they managed just four hits against Tigers pitchers Keider Montero, Tyler Holton and Kenley Jansen.

Even though Cleveland’s offense was able to put the ball in play often against that pitching trio, they weren’t able to do much of anything with the opportunities. 

That performance is pretty emblematic of where the Guardians are at right now, as Thursday’s loss dropped their record to 15-21 since the start of July that's dropped them further back in the American League postseason standings. 

The Guardians front office did a great job upgrading the team’s roster at the trade deadline, but it’s looking clearer and clearer like that’s not going to be enough to push the Guardians across the postseason finish line. 

And one way the Guardians can give the team a shot in arm is by calling up top prospect Ralphy Velazquez, who just keeps raking at Triple-A and seems ready for the bright lights of MLB. 

The Guardians need to call up Ralphy Velazquez

Velazquez entered the weekend hitting .259/.341/.496 with 14 home runs and 38 RBI in 61 games at Triple-A. He’s posted a .892 OPS across 97 games this year across his time with Double-A and Triple-A. 

The left-handed hitting slugger added that 14th home run in style on Thursday with an inside-the-park home run against the Iowa Cubs for his seventh home run in seven games. 

Although the Guardians complicated the Velazquez situation by trading for Nathaniel Lowe (another left-handed hitting first baseman) at the trade deadline, he’s played one or two games a week at left field in Triple-A this season. 

Even if playing the outfield at Huntington Park is different from navigating Progressive Field’s outfield, it would be an obvious way to get Velazquez’s bat in the lineup (just like they did with Cooper Ingle last season). 

One obvious way to get Velazquez on the roster is by demoting Petey Halpin, who has played in just six games since the start of August. Sure, he’s gone 5-for-12 in those games, but he’s not an everyday player in the way that Velazquez would be. 

The hype machine around Velazquez also gained a bit more steam earlier this week when he moved up 52 spots in MLB Pipeline’s post-draft re-rank of the top prospects in baseball.

He’s now the No. 32 prospect in baseball and was three spots behind fellow Guardian Angel Genao, who made his MLB debut earlier this month. 

The Guardians offense is sputtering, and Velazquez is a great internal option who could help turn things around. The Guardians have been aggressive with their prospect promotions this season, and they should follow that trend by calling him up.

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