Cleveland Guardians 2023 Top 50 Prospects, No. 41 RHP Peyton Battenfield
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As the future of the organization prepares for a new year and spring training to begin, there’s no better time to bring you the Cleveland Baseball Insiders top 50 prospects for the upcoming 2023 season.
The Guardians are widely regarded as having one of the deepest and top farm systems in all of baseball. So deep, in fact, that it was very difficult to trim the list down to just 50 players I think could have an impact at the MLB level. I probably could easily have ended up listing 75 or more players.
I am implementing the Fangraphs future value grading scale which you will be able to locate under each player video. Future Value is a grade on the 20-80 scale that maps to anticipated annual WAR production during the player’s first six years of service.
My rankings are based off seeing the players live, watching video and having conversations with other evaluators and writers. While prospect lists are fun and entertaining for fans, they are not an end-all-be-all in terms of who make it eventually to the major leagues. Remember, Jose Ramirez was never a top 100 prospect nationally and Oscar Gonzalez wasn't even a top 20 prospect in the Guardians organization.
The ultimate goal here is to inform our readers and give you information on some of the young talent in the organization that they can follow and look forward to seeing in the future at the MLB level.
No. 41 Peyton Battenfield - RHP
2022 Stats
Bio
Battenfield came over in a trade in July 2021 from the Rays for Jordan Luplow and D.J. Johnson. After the trade he was assigned to Double-A Akron where he pitched in seven games striking out 36 batters and holding his opponents to a .183 average while sporting a 3.28 ERA over 35.2 innings. He saved his best outing for the playoffs where he was almost perfect over seven innings. Battenfield struck out 10 over the seven innings while allowing just one run on hit while not allowing any walks.
2022 Season
The Guardians assigned Battenfield to Triple-A Columbus for the start of the 2022 season where he remained all year. Battenfield saw a decrease in velocity this past season from how hard he was throwing at Double-A Akron in 2021. In 2023 his fastball was just sitting around 90-to-92 mph topping out at 94 compared to the 93-to-95 and 97 mph last year.
Battenfield's drop in velocity led to his inability to miss bats as he posted a career low strikeout percentage of only 17.0% in 2022. He also saw his walk percentage increase from 4.8% in 2021 to 8.9% last year.
Despite the lower strikeout rate and increased walk rate he did only allow 138 hits in the 153.2 innings allowing opponents to hit just .238 against him. Battenfield is a workhorse throwing the fourth most innings in all minor league baseball last year with 153.2 on the season.
He posted a very respectable 3.63 ERA but that was a little deceiving as his FIP (fielding independent pitching) was much higher at 4.63 suggesting he had some strong defense behind him as well as a little luck.
Arsenal
Battenfield throws four pitches including a fastball that has good vertical movement that sits 90-92 and tops out around 94 mph. His best secondary pitch is a cutter that grades above average. Battenfield also throws a curveball and changeup that grade out as average pitches.
2023 and Future Outlook
Battenfield will open the 2023 season back at Triple-A Columbus where he pitched all last season. If Battenfield can find the same velocity he was showing in 2022 after coming over in the trade with Tampa and lower his walk rate, he could possibly find himself making his MLB debut at some point during the 2023 season.
Despite his stock dropping some after the 2022 season he still has a future ceiling of a back end of the rotation starter or a spot starter at the MLB level. He may find his way to the bullpen as a long or middle relief option if he doesn't make it as a starter.
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