Cleveland has one of the deepest minor league systems in all of baseball, so plenty of talented pitchers got left off our community top-20
With seven teams in its minor league system, Cleveland has 165 players under contract heading into the 2025 season, so it’s a bit unfair to stop counting prospects at just the top 20.
Every year I pick some other non-top 20 prospects to keep an eye on and the track record has been pretty solid thus far. Back in 2021, I successfully picked 10 different pitchers who eventually went on to make MLB.
Covering the Corner readers finished their voting recently, but here are some prospects who just missed the cut and deserve some recognition as well. Prospects are listed by their proximity to MLB.
And for clarity’s sake, I’m going to list these pitchers by proximity to MLB, not by ranking.
Starting pitchers
Aaron Davenport, 24, RHP
A sixth round pick by Cleveland in the 2021 MLB Draft, Davenport spent his first two full seasons at High-A Lake County, where he struggled and actually got significantly worse in his repeat season. Upon being promoted to Double-A in 2024, however, he blossomed. Over 26 starts spanning 142 innings, Davenport posted a 2.85 ERA and a 3.73 FIP, dropping his WHIP to 1.18. He was left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft but was not selected.
Tommy Mace, 26, RHP
A second round competitive balance pick in 2021, Mace has struggled in his first taste of each level thus far. He did not pitch well in his High-A debut in 2022, but improved enough to earn a promotion after repeating there in 2023. He again struggled in his Double-A debut, but something clicked for him last season as he pitched more to contact and sported a 3.71 ERA over 27 starts and 145 innings, also posting a career-low 2.84 BB/9. Like Davenport, Mace also was left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft.
Daniel Espino, 24, RHP
Espino was Cleveland’s No. 1 overall prospect at one point, but has not pitched in 2 1⁄2 seasons due to knee and shoulder injuries that required back-to-back season-ending surgeries. When he was healthy, Espino possessed one of the best fastballs and sliders not just in Cleveland’s system, but in all of minor league baseball and he was drawing comparisons to Jacob DeGrom and Garrett Cole. Knock on wood, but Espino is expected to return to the mound this season. The last time we saw him, he struck out the first 12 batters he faced in a game at Double-A in 2022. According to the latest reports, he could return to action as early as June/July this year.
Trenton Denholm, 22, RHP
A 14th round pick by Cleveland in 2021, Denholm has been brought along slower than most others, but Cleveland’s patience is finally being rewarded. Denholm was average in 2022 with a 4.79 ERA over 23 starts at Single-A Lynchburg, then spent most of 2023 in the bullpen at High-A Lake County. Cleveland repeated Denholm at Lake County in 2024 as a starter and he flourished, going 9-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 19 starts before earning a promotion to Double-A. Upon arriving in Akron, Denholm actually dropped his ERA to 2.59 over seven starts. He hasn’t missed many bats, striking out just 7.7 per nine innings last year, but his results have been encouraging.
Carter Spivey, 24, RHP
Undrafted in 2023, Cleveland signed Spivey in January last year and sent him straight to High-A Lake County, where he was one of the team’s best pitchers. Over 24 starts spanning 124.2 innings, he went 8-1 with a 3.22 ERA and 3.96 FIP. Batters hit .224 against him, although his strikeout rate (18.5%) and walk rate (9.2%) could use some improvement heading into 2025.
Zach Jacobs, 23, RHP
An 18th round pick in 2022, Jacobs has been brought along slowly, primarily used out of the bullpen as a piggyback partner for long relief. After struggling in the role in 2023, Jacobs absolutely dominated last season, posting a 2.36 ERA in 34 games (five starts) with a 3.38 FIP and an insanely good 0.88 WHIP. If he had qualified with a few more innings, Jacobs would have had one of the best WHIPs in all of MiLB last year joining teammates Austin Peterson and Matt Wilkinson. He could very well get an opportunity to start regularly in 2025.
Michael Kennedy, 20, LHP
Acquired from Pittsburgh in the Spencer Horwitz trade, Kennedy was drafted in the fourth round out of Troy High School in 2022. He impressed in his pro debut in 2023, sporting a 2.13 ERA in 11 games in the Arizona Complex League. He began 2024 at Single-A, posting a 4.07 ERA in 15 starts in his age-19 season, earning a promotion to High-A at the end of the season, where he had an insane 0.84 ERA in two spectacular starts there. He’ll likely begin 2025 at High-A.
Jackson Humphries, 20, LHP
Like Kennedy, Humphries was a left-handed high school draft pick in 2022, selected in the 8th round by Cleveland. He’s posted excellent strikeout numbers but still needs to work on his command (4.67 BB/9 in 2024) and hard-hit rate (1.37 HR/9 in 2024). That being said. Humphries posted a career-best 4.56 ERA in 2024 while spending the entire season at Single-A Lynchburg and he had the best start of his career in his final game, whiffing 9 batters and walking one in 5.0 innings on Sept. 7.
Josh Hartle, 21, LHP
Standing 6-foot-5, Hartle was Pittsburgh’s third round pick out of Wake Forest in the 2024 MLB Draft. He also was part of the Spencer Horwitz trade. He made just one appearance at Single-A in 2024, giving up four runs in 1.2 innings, but the talent clearly is there and Cleveland wouldn’t have included him in the deal if they didn’t think they saw something they could fix or unleash with him in their system. He could be one of the most underrated top prospects in Cleveland’s system heading into this year.
Players yet to debut in Cleveland’s system with top draft pedigrees: Justin Campbell, Jacob Zibin, Braylon Doughty, Joey Oakie, Chase Mobley, Cameron Sullivan.
Campbell and Zibin both have missed their first two seasons in Cleveland’s system due to injuries, both needing Tommy John with Campbell also having nerve surgery. If healthy, they should both make their pro debuts this season. Doughty, Oakie, Sullivan and Mobley were all highly-ranked high school pitching prospects who signed over-slot with money Cleveland was able to use due to having the No. 1 pick last season. If there is room for all the prep arms at Lynchburg this year, that might be one of the most exciting rotations to watch in Cleveland’s system.
Relievers
Nic Enright, 28, LHP
A 20th-round selection by Cleveland in 2019, Nic Enright has steadily climbed through Cleveland’s system as a relief prospect. Enright had an insane 0.50 ERA in 16 appearances in the rookie league the year he was drafted. After missing the 2020 season due to COVID, he dominated High-A and earned a promotion to Double-A in 2021. Enright advanced to Triple-A in 2022, where he was sensational with a 2.68 ERA. He was left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft and was taken by the Marlins, but returned to Cleveland after battling cancer. Enright recovered from an injury this past season to post a career-high in strikeout rate (16.4 K/9) with a 1.06 ERA in Triple-A, which earned him a spot on the 40-man roster.
Bradley Hanner, 26, RHP
Cleveland selected Hanner out of Minnesota’s farm system in the minor league portion of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. He spent the entire 2023 campaign at Double-A Akron, where he had a solid 2.78 ERA over 41 appearances. Hanner repeated 2024 at Akron, where his strikeout rate and walk rate both improved and his ERA slightly dropped to 2.77. He’ll almost certainly begin the 2025 season at Triple-A Columbus.
Alaska Abney, 24, RHP
A 15th-round pick in 2021, Alaska Abney took the slow and steady approach through Cleveland’s system. He pitched spectacularly until hitting High-A in 2023, where he struggled. He repeated there last year and took off, posting a 1.08 ERA in 14 appearances before earning a promotion to Double-A Akron. Once in Akron, Abney continued to excel with a 2.33 ERA while dropping his WHIP to 0.96. Abney could begin 2025 in Triple-A, where he would be one of the next men up after Franco Aleman and Enright.
Zane Morehouse, 25, RHP
An 14th-round pick in 2023, Morehouse struggled at every level until he was promoted to Double-A last year, where he blossomed. He posted a career-high in strikeout rate (11.7 K/9) and a career-low in walk rate (2.93 BB/9) while also sporting career-best ERA (1.76) and FIP (2.33) over 12 appearances spanning 15.1 innings.
Magnus Ellerts, 23, RHP
An 11th-round pick in 2022, Ellerts has put up massive strikeout numbers at every level. He whiffed a whopping 55 batters in just 39.0 innings last season at High-A Lake County, earning himself a promotion to Double-A. If he can continue to sit batters down as he gets promoted, he could be another diamond in the rough.
Matt Jachec, 23, RHP
An 18th-round pick in 2023, Jachec has impressed with his strikeout rate thus far at every level. He pitched at both Single-A and High-A in 2024, whiffing a combined 104 batters in 72.0 innings and actually increasing his strikeout rate after being promoted to Lake County.
Rafe Schlesinger, 22, RHP
Cleveland’s 4th-round pick in 2024, Schlesinger whiffed 11 batters in 7.1 innings in just three games in a cup of coffee at Lynchburg. I’m excited to see what he brings in 2025.
Donovan Zsak, 21, LHP
An 8th-round pick in 2024, Zsak impressed in seven games with Lynchburg in a small sample size, striking out 13 batters in seven appearances spanning 9.2 innings while allowing just two runs. Zsak will get a much deeper look this year in the bullpen at higher levels.
Cam Schuelke, 23, RHP
A 19th-round pick in 2024, Schuelke possesses a unique submarine style that throws off hitters. He did not allow a run in eight appearances with Lynchburg to close out the 2024 season, striking out 11 batters in 8.2 innings.
Kendeglys Virguez, 20, RHP
A Venezuelan pitching prospect, Virguez initially was a starter before transitioning to the bullpen in 2024. He split time between the Arizona Complex League and Lynchburg in 2024 and finished top five in the system among relief pitchers in strikeout rate (32%).
Luis Flores, 21, LHP
A Dominican pitching prospect, Flores still needs some development, but the strikeouts have been staggering. He whiffed 44 batters in just 23 innings in 2024 at the Arizona Complex League, a wild 17.2 K/9. If he can get his walks under control, he’ll be nasty.