At the risk of potentially waking up the baseball Gods or bringing on some kind of jinx, the Guardians are enjoying a season of resurgent health among previously injury-prone top prospects.<\/p>\n
Chase DeLauter already surpassed his 2025 games played total, and it\u2019s just now Memorial Day weekend. Two first-round picks \u2014 Daniel Espino (2019) and Justin Campbell (2022) \u2014 are back on the mound for the first time in quite some time (2022 for Espino, and college, 2021, for Campbell).<\/p>\n
Campbell (more on him later) is further away. But this past week, there was an interesting development with Espino.<\/p>\n
With two shoulder surgeries knocking Espino out for most of 2022, and all of 2023-2025 (save for September\/October), the fact that he\u2019s healthy and pitching is remarkable. Cleveland has been understandably careful about his return, putting him in the bullpen and pitching him on longer stints of rest than normal relievers.<\/p>\n
Last year, he was throwing one inning every five days (starter\u2019s schedule). This year, he started on three and four days of rest in the Columbus bullpen. A few weeks ago, Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti said that at some point, the team would start to pitch Espino on a less-regimented schedule and get him more traditional relief work.<\/p>\n
Last week, Cleveland tried to use Espino to end an inning and then bring him out to start the next inning. It might have been a coincidence that he issued three walks in his second inning of work. But it was new territory for Espino to sit down between innings and come back and warm up again for more action.<\/p>\n
This past week, Espino threw a perfect inning on May 19, with three strikeouts and topped out at 100.3 mph. He came back on one day of rest, on May 21, and struck out two in two-thirds of an inning of work. It was the first time he had pitched on one day of rest in his career and this season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to carry a reliever in a major-league bullpen who is only available to pitch every two or three days. But if Espino gets to the point where he\u2019s somewhat regularly available every other day, it\u2019s enticing to imagine him being in the Guardians\u2019 bullpen late in the year.<\/p>\n
Cleveland does have Franco Aleman and Andrew Walters ahead of him, who both figure to factor in at some point in 2026. But it\u2019s a great situation to be in for the team, and the importance of bullpen depth late in the year and the role it plays in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Guardians prospect news and notes<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ralphy Velazquez was promoted to Triple-A Columbus last week after his two-homer and double day at Double-A Akron on May 17. So far, he\u2019s not missed a beat and had his first two-hit day on May 23 in Columbus\u2019 doubleheader, including a 408-foot double off a 98 mph fastball. Pay attention to how much time he gets in the outfield. It\u2019s tricky to see if Velazquez would make his MLB debut in 2026, given the presence of Kyle Manzardo, Rhys Hoskins, David Fry, plus the left-field situation of Steven Kwan and Angel Martinez. But Cleveland has been unusually aggressive in 2026, and Velazquez is doing all he can do to force their hand.<\/p>\n
Ralphy Velazquez turns around a 98 MPH heater 408 feet for a two bagger. pic.twitter.com\/xF3cIAllAw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) May 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Not a prospect, but Bo Naylor made his first appearance in the minors since being optioned on May 9. He was the DH in Arizona in the rookie complex league on May 22, going 1-for-5 with a double and two strikeouts. With Cooper Ingle and Kody Huff both succeeding in Columbus, and Patrick Bailey and Austin Hedges having such a strong defensive\/pitching impact as catchers in Cleveland, Naylor\u2019s path back up seems blocked. It wouldn\u2019t be a shock to see him traded before he even works his way back to Columbus, as he is trying to rebuild some offensive\/defensive habits in Arizona, along with his confidence.<\/p>\n Checking in on a few Guardians 2025 draft picks as we enter the first pole of the baseball season (Memorial Day):<\/p>\n \u2022 First-rounder OF Jace LaViolette hit a moonshot on May 23, his seventh of the season. But as of last week, Baseball America found that LaViolette is one of only 22 qualified minor-league hitters with a strikeout rate north of 40% so far in 2026. The power is prodigious, and his speed is also very easily impressive. But that kind of strikeout rate is going to be problematic for him to advance in the minors, let alone make the majors.<\/p>\n LAVIOLETTE DEEP INTO THE NIGHT!! \ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n His seventh homer of the season has made it a six-run Lake County lead! pic.twitter.com\/nvttJkECJL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Lake County Captains (@LCCaptains) May 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Comp B pick, OF Aaron Walton might be the best pick by the Guardians in the 2025 draft so far. At 6-foot-4, he\u2019s built like a football tight end (and had several D-I college football offers at the position), and runs well. He\u2019s found more power this year, working on pulling the ball more in the air, as Cleveland likes to try to teach their hitting prospects to do, and runs well, plays a good outfield. His strikeout rate is 25%, which is a little high for his age and experience at High-A, but he has eight homers, 11 steals and is hitting .307\/.409\/.560 in 177 plate appearances as of May 24. It wouldn\u2019t be a surprise to see him promoted to Double-A in a few weeks or sooner.<\/p>\n \u2022 Fourth-round pick, infielder Luke Hill, might have a case to be more impressive than Walton so far. Not known for his power at Ole Miss, Hill has nine homers, the most in the entire Guardians organization, and is hitting .275\/.437\/.598. He\u2019s also done a good job pulling the ball in the air more as a pro. He also has a strong arm, and he can easily handle the left side of the infield (third base, maybe shortstop, too).<\/p>\n \u2022 Third-rounder, first baseman Nolan Schubart, also has eight homers but carries a 36 K%, another impossibly high number to overcome. Schubart leads all of the minor leagues in fly ball percentage and the highest launch angle. It\u2019s an incredibly steep swing that leads to sky-scraping homers when he makes contact.<\/p>\n The pitching factory had a strong week this past week in the minors.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Double-A on May 23, LHP Josh Hartle, acquired as part of the Luis Ortiz trade from Pittsburgh, struck out eight in 5 1\/3 innings with three hits and a walk, easily his best start of 2026 and maybe his best as a Guardian. He faced a weak Harrisburg (Nationals) lineup but racked up 16 whiffs, which is unusual for someone of Hartle\u2019s stuff.<\/p>\n Stellar Saturday start by @JoshHartle25<\/a> <\/p>\n 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, season-high 8\u20e3 K@GuardsInsider<\/a> @MLBPipeline<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NTgvmWZ7bn<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) May 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 RHP Khal Stephen, the 2025 return for Shane Bieber, also dominated Harrisburg with five shutout innings with four strikeouts, a walk and five hits, as he quickly put a tough start behind him.<\/p>\n Great scoreless start by @KhalStephen<\/a> <\/p>\n His 6th start of 5+ IP in last 7 outings \u2014 Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) May 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 RHP Braylon Doughty showed a short memory and maturity, striking out eight Lansing (Athletics) hitters on May 20 in five innings, allowing a run on five hits. That followed a pair of two-inning outings and an outing where he allowed three runs (one earned) in 4 2\/3 innings in his previous start.<\/p>\n Have a day, Braylon Doughty! He ties his season-high with 8 strikeouts for the @LCCaptains<\/a> \ud83d\udca5<\/p>\n Final line\u2b07\ufe0f
4 K give him team-high 45 this season@GuardsInsider<\/a> @MLBPipeline<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/9Mx4tPrFUZ<\/a><\/p>\n
5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R\/ER, 1 BB, 8 K \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/aEAFT6djt6<\/a><\/p>\n