A Full Breakdown of the Cleveland Guardians prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released this week with a lot of intriguing prospects on each team. There are six teams full of prospects from Major League teams that will play starting October 6th. I’ll be writing an article and making Twitter posts about each team’s roster. This will cover the prospects from the Cleveland Guardians who will be on the Surprise Saguaros this fall. The team will consist of players from the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and the Kansas City Royals.

Cleveland Guardians:

Trenton Denholm RHP: Picked in the 14th round back in the 2021 draft Denholm has slowly been climbing the ranks throughout the years and pitched most of this season in AA. He threw 126.2 innings to a 3.77 ERA. That’s been about where he’s been at every level showing off his elite control, rarely walking anybody and having a 4.9% walk rate this season. He actually started his season in AAA making one start where he went 3.1 innings giving up 3 hits and 3 runs before being demoted back down to AA where he spent the end of the 2024 season. Denholm doesn’t have overpowering stuff sitting around 20% strikeout rates in every season but with his ability to throw strikes he has been able to get lower level hitters out. He has a full four pitch mix starting with a fastball that only sits in the low 90s with very little spin. He also throws a cutter in the mid 80s that gets most of his weak contact. His two secondaries, a high 70s curveball and low 80s changeup are his best pitches but still aren't elite stuff wise. The Guardians will have to make a decision on Denholm soon as he became Rule 5 eligible last season and he’ll likely be tested in AAA next year.

Daniel Espino RHP: Probably the best story heading into the Fall League Espino was the Guardians number one prospect heading into the 2022 season due to his electric arm. After 4 starts in AA pitching 18.1 innings to a 2.45 ERA he was shut down with a knee injury and ended up developing shoulder soreness while rehabbing his knee. He tried making a return in 2023 Spring Training but ended up having to get surgery on his shoulder before the season started. He again tried to return in 2024 Spring Training but again got shoulder surgery on the same shoulder. Finally he made his return on September 20th in AAA pitching for the first time since April of 2022. He gave up 3 runs in 0.2 of an inning of work but his stuff was still there. Before the injury his fastball sat in the high 90s while touching 103 mph and he absolutely blew hitters away. In his rehab outing he sat 98 mph with elite movement. He threw a power slider/cutter with great spin and he was able to repeat that in his outing. His mid 70s curveball and mid 80s changeup aren’t as electric as hit top two pitches but are still good pitches. As he was climbing the ranks he continued to work on his command and his walk rates were improving every season. He of course was striking out a ton of hitters with a 51.5% strike out rate in his last 4 starts in 2022. He’s a total wild card for the Guardians organization and if he pitches well this fall and next spring he could be on the Major League roster on Opening Day next season.

Matt Jachec RHP: An underwhelming four year career at Indiana State he was drafted by the Guards in the 18th round in 2023 only signing for $50,000 but broke onto the scene out of the bullpen in Low-A and High-A in 2024. He threw 72 total innings out of the bullpen and struck out 34.1% of batters while only walking 5.9% dropping his FIP to 2.72. He has one of the best breaking balls in the Guardians system with a slider that has big depth and can be a swing and miss pitch against both sides of the plate. His fastball of course isn’t as good as his slider but he commands it well. He spent the start of the season on the injured list with an undisclosed injury and returned on a rehab assignment to the Complex League in late June. He made his AA debut in early July and made 19 appearances out of the bullpen this season throwing 23.2 innings to a 2.66 ERA. It seems something's been up with his pitches because his strikeout rate dropped to 19.2% but his command is still there, walking 6.7% of batters this year. It’ll be interesting to see what’s been going on with his strikeouts this fall since AA has no public data.

Rorik Maltrud RHP: After spending two years at New Mexico State Maltrud transferred to Missouri and pitched out of their bullpen and had big strikeout numbers. He ended up going undrafted and was picked up by the Guardians before the 2024 season. He spent the 2024 season between the Low-A and High-A rotation pitching 104.2 total innings. He dominated Low-A with a 2.38 ERA and 29.8% strikeout rate but struggled a bit after being promoted to High-A with a 4.53 ERA. His strikeout rate also dropped and his walk rate jumped up to 9.6%. This season even after struggling in High-A he’s spent the entire year in AA. He ended up going on the injured list at the end of May and missed basically the whole month of June but still threw 63.2 innings this season. He had a 4.38 ERA and 3.93 FIP. His strikeout rate stayed around what it was in High-A at 25.2% but his walk rate jumped again to 11.1%. He has no public data at any level but from the video I have seen it looks like Maltrud has a fastball with some life at the top of the zone and a slider that seems to really work when located against right handed hitters. I also think he throws a changeup and maybe curveball but I’ve not seen him throw it that much. A very interesting arm that could be another Guards starter to come out of nowhere. One of the pitchers I’ll be watching closely this fall.

Zane Morehouse RHP: Drafted in the 14th round of the 2023 draft after spending two seasons in the Texas bullpen Morehouse had a great first full pro season between High-A and AA he had a 2.96 ERA across 51.2 innings out of the bullpen. He showed the strikeout stuff he had at Texas with a 27.9% strikeout rate but also showed his command problems with a walk rate of 9.3%. This season he spent entirely in AA and was significantly worse. He threw 48 innings out of the bullpen to a 6.00 ERA. His strikeout rate dropped to 23.8% and his walk rate jumped dramatically to 14.8%. Like Maltrud he has no public data but what I can get from video Morehouse has at least a three pitch mix with a fastball in the mid 90s, a changeup in the high 80s, and a mid 80s slider with some late bite. He seems to have some good stuff. It will be great to get some data on him this fall. 

Juan Benjamin INF: Being signed out of the DR in the 2019 International Class Benjamin has been in the lower minors for the Guardians for a long time. He spent the 2023 and 2024 entirely in Low-A hitting about league average but the Guardians challenged him this season by promoting Benjamin to High-A where he’s been able to hit well, slashing .276/.365/.385 for a 116 wRC+. Benjamin made a big jump in his contact rates this season going from the mid to low 70s in contact rate to 79.2% this season and has whiff on less pitches. He’s a typical 5’8” infielder he can’t hit for much power but has decent speed and this year showed the ability to make contact. He’s played all over the infield in the past but has spent most of the last couple seasons at third and second and seems to be alright there. 

Wuilfredo Antunez RF: I’m not sure where the hype is for Antunez currently. He was a part of the Guardians 2019 International Class out of Venezuela and has done nothing but hit. He’s been slowly climbing the minors and spent the first ⅔ of this season in High-A where he hit .263/.336/.517 for a 135 wRC+. His plus raw power finally was able to break out as he hit 14 homers in 70 games. Antunez was rightfully promoted to AA where he hit .301/.333/.529 to a 146 wRC+. He kept up hitting for power and continued to excel. Antunez 'worst season since 2022 he hasn’t hit below a 120 wRC+. He swings a lot and makes an average amount of contact. With those swings comes a good amount of chase leading to some strikeout issues and a below average walk rate but he’s hit the ball hard this season. He also has decent speed stealing 16 bases this year and plays a decent right field.

Chase DeLauter OF: A weird one to talk about. DeLauter was announced to be going to Arizona this fall but he just made his MLB debut in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series for the Guardians so not sure what the plan is for him right now. I would guess he’ll probably get some at bats though. DeLauter was the 16th overall pick in the 2022 draft and has been amazing when healthy ever since. Since being drafted he’s played 57 games in 2023, 39 in 2024, and 42 this season, he just can’t stay on the field. In 2023 before the season he had a surgery on his toe and didn’t make his organization debut until early June. He was great in 2023 making it up to AA hitting .355/.417/.529 to a 160 wRC+ between three levels. In 2025 he battled through a hamstring injury and hit .261/.341/.500 to a 132 wRC+ and played a few games in AAA. This year again started bad as he had surgery on his core in Spring Training. After coming back he hit .278/.383/.476 to a 131 wRC+ in 34 games at AAA but went down again in July where he had surgery for a hamate fracture and only came back to play in the recent playoff series. When he’s on the field DeLauter is elite at the plate and one of the best hitters on any minor league team. He has plus raw power and great contact numbers as well. He is already a big league player and will be in the Cleveland outfield next season. Like I said I’m not sure if he’ll play in the fall league but he’s been announced so I’ll put him in here.

Thank you for reading for shorter breakdowns check out my Twitter @drew-durstock. Each day I'll release a new team's prospect breakdown.