Angel

Genao

Genao has impressed since being called up Wednesday, and while it comes in a losing effort, the 22-year-old was able to collect his first MLB homer with a solo homer off Jordan Hicks in the seventh inning. It’s a small sample, but one that contains a slash of .438/.471/.625. Obviously that’s not sustainable, but it’s a pretty good indicator of the talent that Genao possesses. The question will be how he’ll adjust when the league does the same.

Genao came to the big leagues ready to hit. He ripped the first pitch he saw into right field for a single and did not stop there, totaling four singles in his debut with at least one from each side of the plate. The most meaningful of which came in the eighth inning as the Guardians mounted a comeback against the Mets’ bullpen and Genao slapped a single down the third base line to drive home the go-ahead run. Cleveland would blow this game right back, but don’t let that take away from Genao’s memorable first game. He started at third base in this game as José Ramírez tended to lingering hand soreness and he made two errors. His path to everyday playing time isn’t especially clear unless Ramírez winds up back on the injured list despite this electric debut.

Ramírez is officially day-to-day with left wrist inflammation. It’ll be rookie Angel Genao taking over at the hot corner in his major-league debut on Wednesday night. Fantasy managers aren’t completely out of the woods regarding a potential injured list trip for Ramírez, but things seem a bit more optimistic at this juncture.

This move was reported late on Tuesday night and is now official. Genao is hitting .300/.401/.474 with 13 home runs and 11 steals in 96 games in the upper minors this season. The 22-year-old also has a 45 percent hard-hit rate and 92.4 percent zone contact rate with just a seven percent swinging strike rate, so this is an interesting profile. He pulls the ball on the ground a lot, so there may not be tons of home runs early on, but that could help his overall batting average. For now, Jose Ramirez is not headed to the injured list, so it remains to be seen how often Genao will play in Cleveland.

It certainly seems like franchise cornerstone José Ramírez is headed back to the injured list with inflammation in his surgically repaired left wrist. However, that hasn’t been confirmed. Genao is an interesting prospect because he’s adept at making contact, makes excellent swing decisions and boasts slightly above-average pop. The 22-year-old switch-hitting infielder launched two homers during Tuesday’s contest at Triple-A Columbus and is hitting .300/.401/.474 with 13 round-trippers and 11 steals in 96 games in the upper minors this season. He’ll presumably get the call for Wednesday’s contest against the Mets as Cleveland continues to push even more metaphorical chips into the center of the table in an effort to win the AL Central. Genao is worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats based on his talent alone.

Genao, who turns 22 in a couple of weeks, was off to a .263/.419/.375 start as a Double-A repeater. Genao was moved around the infield earlier in his career, but he’s played shortstop exclusively since the beginning of last year. If that continues, then fellow prospect Milán Tolentino will begin seeing time at second, one imagines.

One of the top prospects in Cleveland’s system, Genao possesses strong bat-to-ball skills and is starting to add some over-the-fence pop to his profile. There’s still some work to be done but he’s close to arriving in the big leagues, especially after being added to the Guardians’ 40-man roster during the offseason.

The 43rd-ranked prospect in baseball, per Baseball America, Genao enters next season in the upper minors with a chance to reach Cleveland before the end of the year. The 21-year-old prodigy is protected from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.