Triple-A Columbus Clippers: (3-3) at Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) It’s been cold and snowy in Worcester, but that hasn’t slowed down some good pitching developments for Columbus. Parker Messick followed up a strong Triple-A debut with a dominant second outing. He got 18 swings and misses o n the way to five shutout innings and eight strikeouts. His velocity wasn’t quite as high this time around (90-92 mph, topping out at 94; he hit 96 last time). Despite the velocity, where Messick normally sits, he generated whiffs and a low contact rate against his fastball and may be on the way to making himself a starting option sometime in 2025. Columbus LHP Parker Messick: 5IP, 5H, 8K 16 whiffs overall while averaging 92 with the fastball, 6 on the heater and 8 on the changeup. Impressive second start in Triple-Ahttps://t.co/vIfIxKP4u7 pic.twitter.com/nM1vAfaEeM — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 11, 2025 Another starter who showed a step forward in Worcester was Doug Nikhazy. He racked up 14 whiffs, five each coming on his slider and changeup, which are his best pitches now in year two of his new delivery and arm slot. He was at 92-94 mph as well with his fastball, but most notable was the fact he had one walk, which is something Nikhazy had to clean up in 2025 for Cleveland to trust him as a rotation option. The Guardians’ bullpen is starting to find its form in 2025, but Andrew Walters is still making his case to get called back up into it. He struck out five and walked one across two appearances this week. Another arm to keep an eye on could be Zak Kent, acquired last year for international signing bonus money. Kent battled health issues last year and has in the past, but he stuck out four in two innings this week, averaging 93-96 mph with his fastball. Previously, Kent was throwing 90-92 when dealing with injury issues. Now fully healthy, Kent may have rediscovered his fastball velo and pairs that with a lot of high spin secondaries that could make him a good reliever. Gabriel Arias had a nice weekend against Kansas City, but Juan Brito is keeping the pressure on in Columbus. He tallied five hits, including a pair of homers, five RBI, drew three walks and even stole two bases. Another day, another Brito bomb The @CLBClippers lead the WooSox 2-1 in the bottom of the 4th. pic.twitter.com/2DEBGX1nas — GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) April 13, 2025 Offensively, a pair of Will’s — Brennan and Wilson continue to play well. Brennan has had no issues hitting Triple-A pitching in the past and had eight hits but just one walk. Wilson was a minor league Rule 5 pick and homered again to give him three for the year, and drove in four. So far, he’s slashing .350/.447/.650. Columbus heads home to host the Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds) this coming week. Double-A Akron RubberDucks: (4-2) vs. Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) The bat in Akron making the most noise so far this year is a left-handed hitter, but it’s CJ Kayfus. After a strong first week, the first baseman/outfielder added a double, two more triples and a homer. Furthermore, he drew four walks and struck out just twice as the Guardians have seen a much better approach and emphasis on patience at the big-league level this year. Kayfus feels like a man without a true position, but he has time to grow and has impressed so far this year. C.J. Kayfus so far today: 2-2, including his third triple of the season@AkronRubberDuck pic.twitter.com/VPoNJKmXCq — GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) April 13, 2025 Travis Bazzana had his big moments this week. He tagged three and drew four walks thanks to another triple and a two-walk day on April 13, a BIG Akron win. He wasn’t quite as hot this week as he was the first weekend, but he heated up throughout the series. Bazzana sees a lot of pitches and sometimes can take too many, but he works deep counts often and when he finds a pitch he likes, he can make it pay off when he makes a decision. He does it again!@TBazzana with his third triple of the week! This one drives home two! pic.twitter.com/5mpZdujQLx — Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) April 13, 2025 The star the first weekend, 23-year-old outfielder Jorge Burgos, added a fourth homer this week after homering three times in three games to open the season. It was just the one homer and a triple this week, but he did total five hits and three walks to keep things going strong. Austin Peterson has paired strong back-to-back starts to start the 2025 campaign and looks like he could use a promotion to Triple-A himself. He struck out four and limited Altoona to three hits in five shutout innings in his second start of the season. This is also Aaron Davenport’s second season in Double-A. In his second start of his second season, Davenport tossed five shutout innings with a hit and five strikeouts, showing off his big curveball throughout that should be a big league pitch for him, it’s just a matter of the rest of his arsenal. Fellow 2021 draft pick Tommy Mace didn’t allow a hit in his start vs. Altoona across five innings, but he did walk five and allowed a run while fanning four. Akron will head out to face the Eastern League champions Erie Seawolves (Detroit Tigers) this week ahead. High-A Lake County Captains (4-2) vs. West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit Tigers) It was a feast or famine week for Lake County, losing big or having some big games of its own. It has also been feast or famine so far this season for 2023 first round pick Ralphy Velazquez. He came into April 11 1-for-20 over the series with West Michigan before unloading two homers in that 7-3 win by the Captains. That gave him three hits on the year — all homers. He added a third homer on April 13 along with a single, finally. Despite the highs and lows of the results at the start of his second pro season, Velazquez showed a mature mindset and belief in himself — having good at-bats and hitting the ball hard consistently and understanding that the results will eventually be what he’s looking for. That’s a lesson that takes some minor leaguers forever to learn. 1B (LC): Ralphy Velazquez: 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI – Hard to have a better night with 2 homers as hard as Ralphy hit them on a very cold night. Starting to see some better results finally. pic.twitter.com/NSBD8eL94M — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 12, 2025 1B (LC): Ralphy Velazquez: 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI – Hard to have a better night with 2 homers as hard as Ralphy hit them on a very cold night. Starting to see some better results finally. pic.twitter.com/NSBD8eL94M — Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 12, 2025 Jose Devers had a strong weekend after a slow start. He collected four hits on April 12 including a homer, that gave him six hits and two homers for the week as he moved around the order. Alfonsin Rosario, acquired from the Cubs for Eli Morgan, had a homer and three walks on the week, but left the game on April 11 after an awkward slide into second base and didn’t play the rest of the weekend. Jackson Humphries rebounded from an inconsistent first start of 2025 control-wise and turned in four shutout innings where he surrendered just one hit, a hit batter and a walk. He struck out six and sat at 92-93 mph most of the game in a strong outing. Matt Wilkinson, last year’s breakout star, has struggled a bit this year. He walked three, allowed four hits and three runs in his start this series, looking to locate his fastball better and still show more velocity (87-89) if possible. Lake County visits Fort Wayne (San Diego Padres) in this week’s series. Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats (2-4) vs. the Kannapolis Cannonballers (Chicago White Sox) The story in Lynchburg continues to be the impressive start to the career of young arm, Braylon Doughty. He rebounded from a tough first inning in his first pro start to show some serious poise. In his second start, the 19-year-old struck out four in four innings and surrendered just four hits, three runs and one walk. He’s struck out 10 and walked just one across seven innings over two career starts. 21 year old right-hander Jogly Garcia dropped a six-strikeout game over four innings on April 12 as part of a doubleheader. Garcia only suffered a walk and a run on a pair of hits. Offensively, it’s been a slow first two series for the Hillcats. Tommy Hawke’s four-hit game on April 12 gave him six for the week. He did add six steals on the week as the former Wake Forest outfielder repeats Single-A to start 2025. Teenage power prospect Luis Merejo Jr. finally got on the board with a homer during this series. Fellow highly regarded teenage prospect Welbyn Francisca continued to scuffle to start the year and was 3-15 across the week. Lynchburg will visit Salem (Red Sox) this week ahead. ...read more read less