Cleveland

Guardians

Clemmey is the classic 6-for-6 projectable prep southpaw that player development staffs dream about refining in their pitching labs. With a fastball that sits in the low-to-mid 90’s and a low-80’s breaking ball, he’s the type of left-hander that teams hope to mold into a future front-of-the-rotation headliner. There’s some risk he winds up in a relief role down the road, but the 18-year-old Vanderbilt commit is the most intriguing prospect to come out of Rhode Island, the smallest state in the nation, since fellow Bishop Hendricken alum – and current Twins manager – Rocco Baldelli two decades ago.

The hard-hitting 18-year-old is a product of Huntington Beach High School in California — the same school that produced Nick Pratto and Hank Conger. He projects as a middle-of-the-order hitter that has shown the ability to drive the ball to all fields with authority. He has a strong arm and a high intellect, though there are concerns if he’s going to be able to stick behind the plate long-term. With Bo Naylor in the way at the big league level, the Guardians could decide to move him to a corner infield spot, as he has the athleticism to handle it.

It’s the fourth time in five starts that Bieber has given up four runs. At this rate, he’s just not going to have a ton of trade value if the Guardians elect to move him at the deadline. He’s striking out only 19 percent of the batters he’s facing, and he has the third highest hard-hit rate among qualified starters.

Bell was 5-for-10 with a homer and four RBI in the series against the Royals, but he couldn’t come through today. He should be back in the starting lineup when play resumes Friday.

Bell was removed from Saturday’s game after fouling a ball off his knee in the eighth inning. The Guardians decided it was best to give him an extra day to rest and recover. Josh Naylor will fill in for him at first base as the Guardians look to sweep the Royals at home on Sunday.

Naylor seems pretty safe, in light of the Guardians’ decision to release Mike Zunino, but it certainly helps that he had a game like this after going 7-for-47 in his first 14 games. He projects as a top-20 catcher the rest of the way, though that only helps in certain formats.

Williams certainly should have won at least one of his three previous starts, but at least he’s on the board now. He walked just one tonight, and he got 20 missed swings on 94 pitches. It bodes well for him being a useful mixed-league starter in the second half.

Bell was in serious pain after drilling the pitch off his front leg, but he shook it off after a couple of minutes and then hit a two-run single that would have been a double if he hadn’t been limping his way down to first base. He’ll probably be fine Sunday, but if he’s not in the lineup, assume that this is why.

Bell tagged Royals’ southpaw Daniel Lynch for his 404-foot (106.8 mph EV) two-run shot in the fourth inning that extended the Guardians’ lead to 3-0. That would be the extent of the scoring for either side. The 30-year-old has struggled in his first season with the Guardians, hitting a disappointing .223/.310/.373 with only nine homers and 40 RBI.

Naylor got the party started for the Guardians with a run-scoring single off of Daniel Lynch in the home half of the first inning. He then led off the fourth inning with a single and rode home on Josh Bell’s two-run blast. The 26-year-old has been a rock in the middle of the Guardians’ lineup this season —slashing a robust .301/.341/.479 with 11 homers, 62 RBI and five stolen bases.