Guardians counting on secret sauce to keep pitching factory going: The week in baseball - Supply Chain Council of European Union

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Amidst all that has happened in baseball over the last few years, what the Guardians did in the 2021 draft could easily be forgotten.

MLB owners locked out every player on the 40-man roster on Dec. 2. The regular season opener has been canceled and who knows when the first spring training games in the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues will be played.

Baseball hasn’t had a normal season since 2019. There was the 60-game sprint and the minor-league season canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus. In 2021, the entire minor-league system was condensed and restructured. Is anyone still shedding a tear for the New York-Penn League?

But you can bet there are still plenty of baseball executives wondering what the Guardians were up to when they used 19 of their 21 picks in last year’s draft to select pitchers.

Joel Mangrum, Cleveland’s new minor-league pitching coordinator, was asked about that Wednesday after 105 of the Guardians’ minor leaguers ended a workout at their Goodyear training facility.

“We have a little bit of the secret sauce,” said Mangrum with a smile. “We can’t reveal it to everybody. We had some really, really good mentors with Ruben Niebla and Matt Blake that we all spent time under. When you’ve been around people like that, you see the work ethic and the things it takes to be successful.

“We felt drafting that many pitchers was a good challenge to take on. We see the Tweets, too. People talking about the Pitching Factory coming to an end. I would just say that this organization never does anything random. We always have a plan and we have a plan in place.”

Niebla and Blake helped build the assembly line in Cleveland’s Pitching Factory. Three Cy Young winners rolled off it in Corey Kluber, Shane Bieber and Trevor Bauer. Not to mention Mike Clevinger, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Nick Sandlin, Eli Morgan and James Karinchak. They even helped Anthony Gose go from a big-league outfielder to a hard-throwing reliever who returned to the big leagues last year after a five-year absence.

At the end of last season Niebla left to become San Diego’s pitching coach. Blake left two years ago to be the Yankees’ pitching coach. Thus the Tweets about the factory shutting down.

But the Guardians aren’t running out of raw material. Out of the 19 pitchers they selected last year, 18 were college picks.

Here’s how the draft went: No. 1 RHP Gavin Williams, East Carolina; No. 2 LHP Doug Nikhazy, University of Mississippi; RHP Tommy Mace, University of Florida (competitive balance pick); No. 3 SS Jake Fox, Lakeland (Fla.) Christian School; No. 4 LHP Ryan Webb, Georgia; No. 5 RHP Tanner Bibee, Cal State Fullerton; No. 6 RHP Aaron Davenport, Hawaii; No. 7 Jack Leftwich, University of Florida; No. 8 LHP Rodney Boone, UC Santa Barbara; No. 9 LHP Will Dion, McNeese State; No. 10 RHP Franco Aleman, University of Florida; No. 11 RHP Hunter Stanley, Southern Mississippi; No. 12 OF Connor Kokx, Long Beach State; No. 13 RHP Davis Sharpe, Clemson; No. 14 RHP Trenton Denholm, UC Irvine; No. 15 Alaska Abney, Coastal Carolina; No. 16 Zach Pettway, UCLA; No. 17 RHP Reid Johnston, NC State and RHP Jake Miller, University of San Diego.

“Our scouting department has been killing it the last couple of years,” said Mangrum. “We are really excited about this group. Between Gavin Williams and Doug Nikhazy and some guys that people aren’t talking a ton about — Trent Denholm and Tanner Bibee. Tommy Mace is another really good pick. Just a Steady Eddie guy like a Logan Allen (2020 draft), who has a chance to turn some heads. We really like our group.”

With the draft taking place in July last year, and the heavy workload that many college pitchers carry, only three of the Guardians’ 19 pitchers appeared in minor-league games. But they were not idle. They gathered at the Goodyear training site after the draft and spent the next 2 1/2 months preparing for the Weedy Classic, named after Tom Wiedenbauer, the Guardians’ longtime minor-league instructor and coordinator.

“They did their buildup,” said Mangrum. “Went through player goals and development and the next steps in their progression. Then they pitched in the fall in the Weedy Classic.

“They all pitched in four or five games apiece and had a bunch of sim games and live BP sessions before that. We are really excited about them. We have some really good arms who should impact our system.”

The next step begins this season and it will not be hindered by a lockout.

No prying eyes allowed: Most big league camps are closed to scouts at this time of the season. One of the reasons for secrecy this spring is that the Rule 5 Draft did not take place in December because of the lockout. That means there are players in camp right now who could be taken in the Rule 5 when the lockout ends.

Teams are reluctant to let scouts from other teams into their training to see such players. According to reports, many executives would like to see the Rule 5 canceled this year. But that would take approval of the players association.

Oscar Gonzalez, who hit 31 homers in the minors last year for the Guardians, is in camp. He is also Rule 5 eligible.