How C.J. Kayfus’ increased workload in the outfield could have him closing in on debut with Guardians

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The future is always a fun topic for fans of any baseball team. But for some, they want the future to hurry up and arrive in the form of top prospects.

For the Cleveland Guardians, help could be on the way for an outfield that is looking for consistent play alongside Steven Kwan in left field. One of Cleveland’s top position prospects, first baseman/outfielder C.J. Kayfus, has had a hot start to 2025 and appears to be get closer to his first shot at the big leagues.

Kayfus, a third-round pick of the Guardians in 2023 out of Miami, opened the season at Double-A Akron, and he was quickly promoted to Triple-A Columbus on April 28. In his first 15 games for the Clippers, Kayfus has been outstanding at the plate, hitting .379 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.

In his first 33 games between Double-A and Triple-A this season, Kayfus is hitting .371 with a 1.076 OPS, four homers, six triples and 22 RBIs.

The success at the plate isn’t a surprise when it comes to Kayfus, who is the No. 5 prospect in the Guardians farm system according to MLB Pipeline.

“He’s gonna hit in the big leagues. There’s no doubt about it,” Clippers manager Andy Tracy said prior to Tuesday’s game vs. the Iowa Cubs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, at Huntington Park in Columbus. “He’s stockpiling at-bats here. Really good idea at the plate. Continues to develop his professional plan on each individual pitcher and what he wants to execute.”

For Kayfus, one thing that could help him earn a spot in the big leagues before too long is more playing time in the outfield. Outside of Kwan and with Lane Thomas (bruised right wrist) in Columbus on a rehab assignment, the Guardians have struggled to get consistency from their outfielders at the plate.

Kayfus’ bat could help when the Guardians deem him ready. But first, he is continuing to work on his craft as a defender in right field.

Kayfus played at first on Tuesday night vs. Iowa, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in a 3-2 Clippers win.

He has either started in right field or moved from first to right in 10 of his first 16 games for the Clippers.

By comparison, he only played three games in the outfield for Akron.

“I played here and there, right field, my freshman year in college. And then after that it was every single inning at first base,” Kayfus said. “I know I was going to get some time out in the outfield, and it was nice that the Guardians allowed me to be more versatile playing first base and corner outfield. As of recently, I’ve been getting more time out there, which has honestly been awesome.”

He got some work in 2024 as an outfielder. However, he appeared in the outfield in only 23 of 108 games he played.

This season, he has been an outfielder in 12 of 34 games played.

To make the transition from first base to the outfield requires a lot of factors. One of the key ones, said Clippers bench coach Daniel Robertson, is taking care of his arm between games especially when making longer throws that require maximum effort.

“Playing first base, he doesn’t make that many throws. And if he does, he’s making them 80 feet to home plate or 40, 50 feet to second base,” Robertson said. “I think the work that he’s putting in has been very diligent and I feel like he’s played a great right field so far.”

Another unique factor in moving from the infield to the outfield is the different dimensions a fielder has to get used to. The distance between bases never changes.

The area an outfielder has to cover always does.

The home park of the Clippers, Huntington Park, is no exception. The right-field wall is 318 feet from home plate down the foul line and is 22 feet tall from the edge of foul territory into right center. There is also another corner in right center where the wall moves back several more feet.

Kayfus has yet to start a game in right in Columbus because the Clippers have been on the road for the last two weeks. But it hasn’t taken him long to realize how different playing in the outfield is depending on the stadium configuration.

“It’s honestly crazy how different each ballpark is and getting a chance to not only playing with this short porch in right field. But in right center, it kind of juts out and there’s an awkward corner out there, which it’s good to see some variety in the ballparks,” Kayfus said.

Tracy added that for Kayfus, it comes down to getting more reps as a corner outfielder and a better feel of what they need to do when they have to play the ball off the wall.

“Corner guys gotta get used to going into the wall, trusting the fundamentals of their drop steps and their speed, understanding how fast they’re going into things and then just knowing the wall dimensions and things like that,” Tracy said. “You actually want to get him where he’s a little bit uncomfortable at times out there so that he can grow and learn from that.

“But I think he’s been great out there. He continues to grow. He gives us feedback on things, and we can work together to help him through that process.”

Learning how to read the flight of the ball also plays a role in learning the outfield, Robertson said.

“There’s a couple different flights, but they don’t happen that much on the infield,” he added. “So in the outfield, you got your hooked back from the lefties, your hooked balls from the righties, the slice ball from the righty. So it’s just getting him exposed to different spins.”

An area where Kayfus has had to make a quick adjustment as a hitter is the quality of pitchers he’s facing now in Triple-A. He noted that most starters have up to six different pitches, something he didn’t see much at other levels, and that other pitchers he’s faced have at least spent some time in the majors.

“It’s cool to see,” Kayfus said. “We’re doing hitters meetings and a lot of the pitchers that we’re facing have big league time. Going over the pitching and watching their videos, you see that they’re pitching in the big leagues. Coming out here and putting good at-bats together against them shows that I’m facing the best.”

One such example was the Iowa Cubs starter for Tuesday night in Keegan Thompson, who has 23 starts and 104 career MLB appearances. Kayfus struck out and grounded out in two at-bats vs. Thompson.

Kayfus has also gotten the opportunity to learn from two Major League veterans in Will Brennan, who started the season in Columbus before being called back up to Cleveland on May 12, and Thomas, who has played in six rehab games with the Clippers. Being around Thomas during his rehab assignment has given Kayfus quite the perspective on reaching a different level as a hitter.

“Hearing him talk and how he goes about his at-bats in the hitters meeting and how he’s gonna attack the pitchers is kind of mind opening and seeing the thought process that makes him the hitter that he is,” Kayfus said.

With Kayfus’ bat and glove continuing to develop in Columbus, the question of when he gets the call to the show in Cleveland could be just a matter of when. It comes down to numerous factors involving the big-league club, and it’s also about getting Kayfus more work.

“There’s a lot of variables that go into callups,” Tracy said “Whether for pitchers, the 27th man, things like that, if there’s an opening in the big leagues, if there’s something going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about, there’s a lot of variables. We just look to keep them healthy down here and give them the reps and then have them prepared for Cleveland when they make the call.

“I’m not worried about his bat. I’m not worried about his glove. It’s just a matter of time when we want to make that decision.”