The Guardians’ Minor League Triple & Double-A Stars of 2026

Prospects who Debuted and Ended the Season on the Guardians : Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana, Angel Genao, Daniel Espino, Parker Messick, and Austin Peterson: From your rookie of the year candidates – DeLauter and Messick – to your AL All-Star – Bazzana – to a guy throwing 100 mph out of the bullpen – Espino – to your solid longman/fifth starter – Peterson, this was a special group of Guardians' rookies without a doubt.

Hitters : Cooper Ingle , LH C/LF – 151 wRC+, 23/18 (.371 wOBA/.351 xwOBA in August-September) – Ingle is clearly going to be a good hitter, but it's his defensive home that's the trouble. Can he stick at catcher? Will he be able to adjust to left field (after a disastrous few games there in Cleveland)? At the plate, he clearly sold out for some more power this season, leading to an uptick in strikeouts. Was the trade-off worth it? All questions the Guardians have to answer, but I do wonder if Ingle isn't Kwan's eventual replacement in left.

Ralphy Velazquez – 133 wRC+, 21/11 – (.481 wOBA/.396 xwOBA in Aug-Sep). For those wondering, in Ralphy's last two months he put up a .491 wOBA on off-speed pitches, a .355 wOBA on curveballs, and a .355 wOBA on sliders. His wOBA on fastballs was a ridiculous .561. Basically, he is steadily figuring each kind of pitch out and doing damage on them. I believe he should be plan-A to start 2027 at first base for the Guardians.