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This Under-The-Radar Guardians Prospect Must Be Promoted Soon
Jul 8, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; A Cleveland Guardians baseball cap and glove sit on the dugout rail before the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images David Reginek-Imagn Images

This Under-The-Radar Guardians Prospect Must Be Promoted Soon

Originally posted on Cleveland Guardians on SI
By Tommy Wild  |  Last updated Apr 14, 2025 7:45 PM ET

The Cleveland Guardians have plenty of intriguing and elite prospects in their organization.

The most popular player in the farm system is easily Travis Bazzana, but highly-touted draft picks such as Chase DeLauter and Ralphy Velazquez aren't too far behind him.

However, one player flying under the radar on some prospect ranking lists and should be getting a lot more attention from talent evaluators: C.J. Kayfus.

Kayfus, Cleveland's eighth-ranked prospect, started the 2025 minor league season with the Akron RubberDucks (Double-A), where he finished last year.

So far, through eight games, Kayfus has done nothing but mash the ball and has been an unmovable force with the bat in his hand.

He's currently hitting .516/.605/.871 with a 1.476 OPS, including one home run, two doubles, and three triples.

These stats were good enough for Kayfus to earn Eastern League Player of the Week (Week 3: April 7-13).

The power-hitting prospect has nothing left to prove in Akron and is clearly ready for a new challenge.

Kayfus has routinely demonstrated he can handle pitchers in Double-A, and it's time for him to continue his development at the next level.

It's not like this is Kayfus's first time seeing Double-A pitching, either. In 251 at-bats in 2024, the first baseman had a .836 OPS and hit 38 extra-base hits.

For reference, Kayfus wasn't promoted to Double-A until June 3 of last season. Hopefully, for everyone's sake, it doesn't take that long for the 2023 draft pick to reach Triple-A Columbus this year.

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This article first appeared on Cleveland Guardians on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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