2024 Draft - Part 18 - How YOU Doin'? News From The Cape Cod League

 If you follow the Guardians' drafts closely you'll know that they really love guys who perform well in the Cape Cod Summer League.

Look at some of their recent draft picks who were drafted higher than they were ranked:

• Franco Aleman - One of our top relief prospects, in 2019 he had a 1.16 ERA with 25 H,  2 BB and 27 K in 31 IP on the Cape.  Even though he followed that up with a 5.74 ERA and 75 H in 69 IP at Florida, the Guardians drafted him in the 10th round of the 2021 draft.   Even though it took him a couple of years to settle into pro ball, the CGFS4CP (Cleveland Guardians Finishing School For College Pitchers) developed him into a lights out reliever.
• CJ Kayfus - In 2021 Kayfus hit .302 on the Cape with an OPS of .742.  The next year he did have an OPS in college (Miami, FL) but still was only ranked 151st in the country, due, primarily, to lower than expected power from a first base prospect. The Guardians thought enough of him to draft him with the 93rd pick and the rest, as they say, is history.
• Cooper Ingle - While Ingle did not have GREAT success in the CCBL in the summer of 2022, he held his own, hitting .253 with 30 BB in 153 PA, leading to a .401 OBP and a .721 OPS.  He followed that up with a good-but-not-great season at Clemson (.328 BA, .417 OBP, .461 SLG with 6 HR in 256 ABs), leading the Guardians to overdraft the 232nd ranked prospect with the 125th pick in the 2023 draft.  
• Nate Furman - Furman was not even rated in the top 250 prospects by MLB Pipeline after his 2022 college season but, before the draft, played on the Cape that summer.  He parlayed a .387 OBP and .755 OPS (even though he showed little power with a .306 BA and .367 SLG) into being a 4th round pick (#121 overall) of the Guardians that year.

These are just a few of MANY examples as the Guardians have continued to value performance in the Cape at a much higher level than performance in college, although they DO apparently look at college performance to make sure Cape performance was not an aberration. 

So, with that in mind, let's take a look at the 2024 and 2023 Cape performances of selected 2024 draft-eligible players.  Remember that many 2024 draft prospect rankings are based heavily on what the kids did in the summer of 2023 and the Cape League is where most of the pro scouts spend a lot of time in the summer.  As the draft tends to be what have you done for me lately, there is probably a good deal of weight placed on what guys are doing in the Cape this year.

2024 - (NOTE: Not a complete list at all.  Other prospects may be playing in the Cape that the Guardians will consider, especially in the end of the 2nd day and in the 3rd day of the draft)

• John Bay - Played college ball this year at Austin Peay, my 9th round pick by the Guardians in my June mock draft for the Guardians, Bay has 3 HRs and a 1.222 OPS buoyed by 3 HR in 23 AB and a .483 OBP with only 1 BB but with 5 HBP so far in the Cape in 2024.
• Austin Overn - Identified by me in an earlier post as one of the draft-eligible sophomores to watch in this year's draft, Overn is tearing up the Cape right now.  While he underperformed this year at USC, only hitting .270 with a mediocre .349 OBP, he is mashing on the Cape so far with a .361 BA, an .395 OBP and a .667 SLG for an OPS of 1.061 with 3 steals (after stealing 17 in the spring.  Given that they drafted Furman and Joe Lampe in the past, Overn, as a LH batter, fits their OFer profile.  The only thing that may hold him back from being drafted is that he might require a bonus that is much larger than his skill set because of his leverage as a sophomore.
• Wallace Clark - 22 yr old RS Junior third baseman who played at Duke this year, he has a .385 BA and a .546 OBP at the Cape this year with 8 BB and 7 K in 33 PA.  
• Mike Sirota - Interestingly, Sirota played on the Cape in 2021, 2022 and 2023.  He is not listed on a 2024 roster.  I can't find any mention on the web of him being injured so it is interesting, in his draft year, that a kid from the Northeast should suddenly decide not to play ball in the league that had become his summer home.   Note that he did participate in the draft combine but except for a fast 60 yard time, this CFer did not appear on many standout lists after the combine. Nonetheless, Sirota has had good seasons on the Cape in past years so this should not deter teams from picking him.  I had him as the CB-A pick for the Guardians at #36 in my mock draft.
• Connor Wietgrefe - A 22-year old LHP from Minnesota, he currently has allowed 1 R in 11 IP with 1 BB and 12 K on the Cape.  He's a Cleveland-type pitcher who allowed only 1 HR and 26 BB to go with 74 K at Minnesota this spring in 76 IP (85 hits allowed)..   

2023 - (NOTE: This list only looks at players who are not currently ranked highly who had good summers in the Cape in 2023 but had bad springs or were injured during their 2024 college season.  Players who are ranked highly are not in this list but, obviously, the Guardians could and likely WILL use their 2023 Cape performance as a separator between 2 or more guys they are considering).

• Camron Hill - LHP - Hill was not good this spring and is starting off badly at the Cape this year but last year he was lights out in his time at the Cape. 
• Derek Clark - LHP - Did well in the Cape last year and followed it up with a good year after transferring to West Virginia.  He could be a good senior sign because he ate a lot of innings this year, with 97.2 IP
• Daniel Avita - RHP - Was 2nd in ERA on the Cape and followed that up with a junior year in college that was mediocre.  He is a Cleveland pitcher, however, as his 6.17 ERA is balanced somewhat by 45 K and only 9 BB in 35 IP (40 H).  He is 6'6"
• Hayden Frank - LHP - He had a good year in the Cape, finishing 5th in ERA.  He was out much of his junior year in college but is back pitching well at the Cape in 2024 with 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB and 12K.  Again, another Cleveland pitcher, at 6'6"
• Smith Pinson - RHP - He is 6'8" and, after performing well on the Cape in 2023, did not follow that up with a good performance this spring.  
• Finnegan Wall - RHP - Wall missed his junior year after having a great 2023 in the Cape.  He is a possibility as an injured college pitcher that the Guardians like to draft. 
• Cam Schuelke - RHP - He was the top reliever on the Cape last year but was only a middle reliever at Mississippi State in 2024. He is back on the Cape this summer so maybe he can show them enough to get drafted.  At 6'0", however, he will likely be going back to school if he doesn't sign as an undrafted FA.
• Matt Hallbach - 1B/3B/LF - He hit well in the Cape last summer but missed a good part of the spring, hitting .409 in 19 games with an OPS of 1.143.  

There are literally hundreds of guys spread between 2023 and 2024 who played on the Cape to varying degrees of success.  The lists above are designed to show you that, if the Guardians tend to really value Cape performance, there will be lots of guys to choose from in the draft this July.

Oh, BTW, Travis Bazzana was the #1 hitter in the Cape last year and a number of top draft prospects this year dotted the top 10 in hitters.  Some of those guys will be around at #36 and #48 but most will be gone before then as their springs have matched or exceeded their Cape performance.