Guardians Farm Report: Curry Strikes Out A Season High 10 In RubberDucks Win

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A new week a new series started for all four Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates on Tuesday.
Triple-A Columbus Clippers
Columbus 9 Iowa 3
Scoreless through the first three innings the Clippers would strike first blood in the fourth inning putting up two runs on a solo home run by Bryan Lavastida and an RBI double by Bobby Bradley. For Lavastida it was his second home run with Columbus while for Bradley it was his first hit since joining Columbus after being designated for assignment by Cleveland.
#Guardians 23yr old (C) prospect Bryan Lavastida just demolished a baseball for his 2nd HR of the season with Columbus!@Lavastida_ @CLBClippers #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/9YhIHlo7GZ
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 18, 2022
Iowa would come back and tie up the game at 2-to-2 after six innings. Columbus would break the tie in the top of the seventh inning on a Tyler Freeman RBI single scoring Alex Call who had walked to start the inning.
Now leading 3-to-2 the Clippers would break the game wide open in the eighth inning scoring four runs off the Cubs on an RBI double by Mitchell Tolman and three straight bases loaded walks.
Columbus would go onto win 9-to-3 after each team would score once in the ninth inning. With the win the Clippers have now won seven straight games and improve their record to 25-12 on the season.
Top Performers:
- Bryan Lavastida 1-3 R HR 2RBI 2BB
- Tyler Freeman 2-4 3RBI BB SB
- Bobby Bradley 2-5 R 2(2B) RBI
- Mitchell Tolman 2-5 R 2B RBI
- Jose Fermin 1-3 2R BB
- Peyton Battenfield 5.1(IP) 7H 2R 2ER 2BB 2SO (W)
- Kirk McCarty 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 2SO
Double-A Akron RubberDucks
Akron 5 Binghamton 2
Akron starting pitcher Xzavion Curry was dealing Tuesday striking out a season high 10 batters allowing just one unearned run over his five and two thirds' innings of work. Curry now has a 1.13 ERA over his last three starts for the RubberDucks striking out 23 batters over 16.2 innings.
#Guardians 23yr old RHP Xzavion Curry was dealing today striking a season high 10 batters for Akron.
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 17, 2022
Video striking out Mets top prospect Francisco Alvarez.
Line - 5.2(IP) 6H 2R 1ER 1BB 10SO
Last 3 starts: 16.2(IP) 10H 3R 2ER 4BB 23SO 1.13 ERA
@xzavioncurry1 #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/dAPxeAFjQj
The RubberDucks left-handed bullpen duo of Andrew Misiaszek and Tim Herrin would follow Curry throwing a combined three and a third scoreless innings striking out nine Binghamton batters. The trio of Curry, Misiaszek and Herrin would combine to strikeout 19 batters in the game.
#Guardians 22yr old (C) prospect Bo Naylor with his 2nd HR of the season on the 1st pitch of today's game for Akron vs Binghamton. (No Audio on telecast)
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 17, 2022
Naylor over his last 7 games:
7-19 7R 2(2B) 1HR 4RBI 10BB 1SB .368 AVG .586 OBP@_BoNaylor_ @AkronRubberDuck #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/RlRfanuknk
On offense catcher Bo Naylor led off the game homering on the first pitch he saw. The home run was Naylors second of the season for Akron. Center fielder Will Brennan would drive in two runs in the game giving him a Guardians farm leading 34 RBI's on the year.
With the win Akron is now 19-15 on the season.
Top Performers:
- Bo Naylor 2-4 2R HR RBI BB
- Will Brennan 1-4 2B 2RBI BB
- George Valera 2-5 R 2B
- Julian Escobedo 1-3 2B RBI BB
- Brayan Rocchio 0-2 R 3BB SB
- Xzavion Curry 5.2(IP) 6H 2R 1ER 1BB 10SO (W)
- Andrew Misiaszek 1.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 4SO
- Tim Herrin 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 5SO (SV)
High-A Lake County Captains
Lake County 5 Cedar Rapids 1
While Captains starter Gavin Williams strong start to the year may get all the headlines at Lake County as the Guardians 2021 first round pick another pitcher from the same draft class has been equally as good.
Guardians 2021 5th Round Pick Tanner Bibee struck out nine Cedar Rapids hitters last night allowing only one run on three hits over his six innings of work. His nine strikeouts now tie him with Williams for the team lead with 45 and his 1.30 ERA is currently besting Williams 1.48 on the season.
#Guardians 23yr old RHP prospect Tanner Bibee has been incredible on the year for Lake County! Bibee was up to 97-98 on the gun tonight. Struck out 9 over his 6.0 innings.
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 18, 2022
Tonight - 6.0(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 2BB 9SO
Season - 27.2(IP) 20H 8R 4ER 6BB 45SO 1.30 ERA
@TBibee28 #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/NCOHYl4T6A
Reliever Zach Hart followed Bibee taking the mound on his 25th birthday he would throw two scoreless innings facing six batters striking out all six
With the game tied 1-to-1 in the top of the ninth inning Lake County would score four runs with the big blow coming on a huge 3-run opposite field home run by first baseman Joe Naranjo. Naranjo's sixth home run of the season would give the Captains a 5-1 lead.
#Guardians 21yr old (1B) prospect Joe Naranjo with an opposite field 3-run bomb to give Lake County a 5-1 lead in the 9th! For Naranjo it is his 6th HR of the season.@joenaranjo_ @LCCaptains #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/BoE0D5v5pN
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 18, 2022
Reliever Randy Labaut would close out the game for Lake County striking out the side in the bottom of the 9th inning. The combination of Bibee, Hart and Labaut combined struck out 18 Kernel batters in the game.
With the win the Captains move to 15-18 on the year.
Top Performers:
- Joe Naranjo 2-4 R HR 3RBI BB
- Angel Martinez 2-2 2B 2BB SB
- Connor Kokx 2-4 R
- Petey Halpin 1-5 R 2B
- Tanner Bibee 6.0(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 2BB 9SO
- Zach Hart 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 6SO (W)
- Randy Labaut 1.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO
Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats
Lynchburg 11 Salem 4
Lynchburg once again got another strong start from last weeks Carolina League pitcher of the week left-hander Rodney Boone. Boone would only allow on run which was unearned over five innings while striking out four Salem batters in the game. He now has a 1.71 ERA on the season with 45 strikeouts in just 31.2 innings of work.
#Guardians 22yr old LHP prospect Rodney Boone was terrific again for Lynchburg lowering his ERA to 1.71 on the season. He's been unhittable over his last 3 starts!
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 18, 2022
Line - 5.0(IP) 3H 1R 0ER 2BB 4SO
Last 3 starts: 17.0(IP) 8H 3R 1ER 2BB 17SO 0.53 ERA@LynHillcats #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/V3fVoPwx4y
The Hillcats held a 3-to-1 lead heading into the seventh inning before they would explode for eight runs over the final three frames including Jorge Burgos second home run of the season. They would go onto win by a final score of 11-to-4.
Lynchburg had 16 hits in the game with every batter collecting at least one. The team was led by shortstop Yordys Valdes and center fielder Isaiah Greene who had three hits apiece.
Valdes has been outstanding over his last 13 games hitting .378 with a .420 on-base percentage. The Guardians 2019 second round pick has a tremendous glove but has showed improvement at the plate so far in 2021. If he continues to find success hitting the 20-year-old just adds another potential middle infield option to the fray for Guardians the future.
#Guardians 20yr switch hitting (SS) prospect Yordys Valdes with 3 more hits tonight (3-5 3R RBI BB SB) for (Low-A) Lynchburg. Valdes has been incredible at the plate over his last 13 games.
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 18, 2022
17-45 9R 2(2B) 1(3B) 10RBI 4BB 3SB .378 AVG .420 OBP@LynHillcats #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/iA27yeKVtx
Top Performers:
- Jorge Burgos 2-5 R HR 3RBI
- Yordys Valdes 3-5 3R 2B RBI BB SB
- Milan Tolentino 1-3 R RBI 3BB 2SB
- Jake Fox 2-5 R 2B BB
- Isaiah Greene 3-5 R RBI
- Will Bartlett 1-3 2R RBI BB
- Richard Paz 2-5 R 2B RBI
- Rodney Boone 5.0(IP) 3H 1R 0ER 2BB 4SO (W)
- Davis Sharpe 1.2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO
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Todd Paquette is a Cleveland-area sportswriter and minor league insider who covers the Cleveland Guardians and their farm system. He has been writing professionally since 2014 and has worked for Cleveland Guardians On SI since 2021.