Guardians of the Future Prospect Weekly: Kahlil Watson's Three-Homer Week, Caden Favors' September Surge
By Michael Morgan ·
Guardians of the Future Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Guardians farm system.
Watson's Power Surge Keeps Columbus Honest
Kahlil Watson (AAA, LF, Rank: 20) went 8-for-22 last week with three home runs and nine RBI against just one walk and six strikeouts, his best single-week power output of the season. Over his last 30 days he has slugged five homers in 72 plate appearances with 13 RBI and a 12.5 percent walk rate, while holding the strikeout rate to 25.0 percent, both markedly better than his big-league numbers this season (.239/.264/.341 with a 35.2 percent strikeout rate across 91 MLB plate appearances). The difference between the two outputs has been swing decisions and timing: his contact rate at Columbus sits at 66.9 percent on the year, which is thin, but it stabilizes when he is getting pitches to hunt rather than reacting to major league sequencing.
The scouting picture on Watson has always been a 45 hit tool sitting next to a 50 power grade and plus athleticism, with the honest ceiling of a second-division regular if the contact play approaches league average. He is 23, and the strikeout profile at the big-league level (35.2 percent) remains the operative concern. This week showed the power as real: 19 home runs at Triple-A on the year, 20 combined across levels, from a player whose projection pegs the power at 50. The walk rate at Columbus (13.8 percent) is substantially better than what he has shown in the majors, which suggests the approach narrows under the pressure of elite competition rather than the tools disappearing entirely. A clear path to an everyday role still runs through reducing chase and tightening contact against spin, but a 23-year-old left-handed bat with 20 homers and 31 steals on the combined season is a real asset to have in the system, even as a depth piece shuttling between Columbus and Cleveland.
Favors Keeps Piling Up September Zeroes
Caden Favors (AA, LHP, Rank: 21) threw 5.0 innings last week, allowing two earned runs on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts, a modest line by the standards of his last month. Over his last four starts he has worked 23.1 innings with a 2.31 ERA, a 0.73 WHIP, 29 strikeouts, and just three walks, posting a 33.0 strikeout rate against a 3.4 percent walk rate in that span. For context, his season walk rate at Double-A sits at 9.2 percent. That gap is the story: the same arm that was issuing walks at a rate that stressed his pitch counts all summer has suddenly found the strike zone with regularity, and the results have followed.
He is a five-pitch lefty who sits 92-96 with above-average extension, backs it with a 55-grade curveball in the upper 70s, and adds a slider and a usable changeup. The arsenal was never the problem. A walk rate that hovered above nine percent through most of the season kept him from going deep into games and inflated an ERA that currently sits at 4.65 on the year. Over the last four starts the walk rate has cratered, the whiff rate has climbed to 36.6 percent, and he has looked like a different pitcher. The projection sits at a fifth starter or swingman at the MLB level, and at 25 the development clock is running. But a left-handed starter with five pitches who can generate a 33 percent strikeout rate at Double-A while walking fewer than four percent of batters is a profile Cleveland's front office has to be watching closely. If the command holds into the final weeks of the season, Favors is a legitimate 40-man candidate this fall.
Quick Hits
Tre Broussard (A, OF, Rank: 8) · made his full-season debut after being assigned to Hill City from the ACL complex and immediately looked comfortable, going 6-for-14 with two doubles, a home run, two RBI, and a walk in his first three games. That is a small sample, but a 90 percent contact rate and 48.8 percent swing rate in that stretch match the contact-forward profile of a 55 hit tool, 70 speed center fielder who is not going to beat himself. He is 20 years old and projects as at least a second-division regular, with the defense and baserunning providing a floor even as the bat continues to develop. Six stolen bases already on the season before the promotion says plenty about the speed grade.
Welbyn Francisca (AA, SS, Rank: 20) · was promoted to Double-A Akron on September 8, capping a standout High-A season at Lake County. He hit .277/.356/.538 with 17 home runs and 11 steals across 289 plate appearances at the A+ level, and I'd take the over on both the 45 hit and 45 power grades he carried into the year. He is 20 years old. The jump to Akron is late enough that the four-plate-appearance sample there is noise, but finishing the year in Double-A gives Cleveland and evaluators a first look at how his bat handles the step up in pitching quality before a full 2027 assignment.
Nolan Schubart (AA, 1B, Rank: 34) · drove in nine runs this week on four hits, including two home runs and three walks across 21 plate appearances. His last 30 days at Akron include nine homers in 95 plate appearances, 22 RBI, and a 17.9 percent walk rate. The strikeout rate over that stretch (38.9 percent) remains the primary concern for a first-base-only profile with a 40 hit tool, but a 60 power grade combined with a near-20 percent walk rate means he keeps generating value even when the bat is inconsistent. He is up to 14 home runs at Double-A and 34 on the combined season.
Cooper Ingle (AAA, C, Rank: 10) · went 8-for-23 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI, and two walks, with five strikeouts over the course of the week. He has drawn 25 walks over his last 20 Triple-A games, pushing the last-30-day walk rate to 26.6 percent while the strikeout rate has climbed to 27.7 percent in that span, a wider spread than his season-long 22.9/18.9 split at Columbus. The season line at Triple-A (.302/.433/.537, 19 home runs) is still one of the better catching performances at the level anywhere in the minors, and a contact-and-OBP bat behind the plate with 19 Triple-A homers is not a player Cleveland has the luxury of ignoring.
Jace LaViolette (AA, OF, Rank: 12) · collected seven hits in 26 plate appearances with a double, a homer, three RBI, and four walks, striking out nine times. The season strikeout rate at Double-A remains at 37.9 percent, unchanged from his High-A number, which is the persistent question mark against a 60 power grade and an everyday right-field projection. He has six home runs at Akron in his first 22 Double-A games and a 13.6 percent walk rate there, so the power and approach are showing up. Whether the contact ever settles near fringe-average is the variable that defines an everyday bat or a platoon-heavy corner piece.
Austin Peterson (AAA, RHP, Rank: 30) · got his first big-league action of the season after being recalled September 4, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts before being optioned back to Columbus two days later. He posted a 4.53 ERA over 95.1 innings at Triple-A this year with 102 strikeouts, a reasonable foundation for a depth arm who can eat innings at the back of a bullpen or rotation.
Ralphy Velazquez (AAA, 1B, Rank: 2) · managed just two hits in 20 plate appearances this week, with four walks partially offsetting a tough contact week. A rough seven-day stretch, but the surrounding context matters: over his last 30 days he has hit with a .775 slugging percentage and posted 11 home runs in 97 plate appearances at Columbus, with a 15.5 percent walk rate. His combined season line sits at .290/.380/.548 with 29 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A. One soft week does not move the needle on a player producing at that rate.
Braylon Doughty (AA, RHP, Rank: 5) · had a rough outing, allowing six earned runs on 14 hits across 11.1 innings over the week's stretch, walking two and striking out five. Over his last five Double-A starts he carries a 4.98 ERA in 21.2 innings with a strikeout rate that has dropped to 14.7 percent, well below his season mark of 25.6 percent. The transition from High-A (3.02 ERA, 74 strikeouts in 59.2 innings) to Double-A has been a genuine step up for a 20-year-old. He has a 60-grade curveball and a 55-grade slider that project well, and a rough first Double-A run at this age is far from a disqualifier; the developmental arc still points toward a mid-rotation ceiling if the stuff tightens.