Cleveland Guardians 2023 Top 50 Prospects, No. 43 LHP Rodney Boone

As the future of the organization prepares for a new year and spring training to begin, there’s no better time to bring you the Cleveland Baseball Insiders top 50 prospects for the upcoming 2023 season.

The Guardians are widely regarded as having one of the deepest and top farm systems in all of baseball. So deep, in fact, that it was very difficult to trim the list down to just 50 players I think could have an impact at the MLB level. I probably could easily have ended up listing 75 or more players.

I am implementing the Fangraphs future value grading scale which you will be able to locate under each player video. Future Value is a grade on the 20-80 scale that maps to anticipated annual WAR production during the player’s first six years of service.

My rankings are based off seeing the players live, watching video and having conversations with other evaluators and writers. While prospect lists are fun and entertaining for fans, they are not an end-all-be-all in terms of who make it eventually to the major leagues. Remember, Jose Ramirez was never a top 100 prospect nationally and Oscar Gonzalez wasn't even a top 20 prospect in the Guardians organization.

The ultimate goal here is to inform our readers and give you information on some of the young talent in the organization that they can follow and look forward to seeing in the future at the MLB level.

No. 43 Rodney Boone - LHP

Bio

Cleveland Guardians left-handed pitching prospect Rodney Boone was drafted in round eight of the 2021 MLB Draft out of UC Santa Barbara. Boone was named the Big West Co-Pitcher of the Year touting a 11.84 SO/9 ratio and a team-leading 128 punchouts in the 2021 season. In 2019 he was named the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year, going 8-0 with 80 strikeouts and a 2.78 ERA in 81.0 innings of work.

2022 Season

In 2022 Boone was assigned to Low-A Lynchburg out of spring training. At Lynchburg he made just 10 starts posting a 1.85 ERA before being promoted to High-A Lake County June 7th. With the Captains he made 13 more starts to finish the season.

Over Boone's 23 starts on the year, he posted 3.54 ERA over 114.1 innings pitched. He struck out 137 batters on the year good for a 10.78 SO/9 inning rate while just allowing 29 walks. Batters hit .228 against him on the season.

Boone was named the named the Pitcher of the Week twice on the 2022 season once for the Low-A Carolina League and once for the High-A Midwest League.

Arsenal

Boone's fastball only sits only around 86-to-88 mph and tops out at around 90-to-91 mph. His best offering is a plus changeup that he throws in the upper 70's that plays well off his fastball and offers good differentiation. He also throws a big overhand curve that sits in the lower 70's. 

Just like fellow Guardians left-handed pitching prospect Will Dion if he can add more velocity as he continues his develop than his prospect rank and outlook could jump significantly.

2023 and Future Outlook

Boone should start out the 2023 season most likely back at High-A Lake County where he finished 2022 season. He has an outside shot of being assigned to Double-A Akron to start the year. If Boone pitches well at which I presume will be "Lake County" he should reach the Double-A level at some point in 2023. It still may be tough though with so many talented arms ahead of him in the Guardians farm system.

His future ceiling currently is that of a fifth starter or a spot starter at the MLB level. If Boone can add some more velocity to his fastball to go with his deceptive changeup and maybe add a fourth pitch his ceiling may be much higher as mentioned before.

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Read More:

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