Minor League Recap: Bazzana, Espino, Hartle, Chourio, Oakie and more dazzle

— MLBPTY (@mlbptyoficial) April 17, 2026 Steven Perez pitched a scoreless ninth inning, giving Columbus the chance to send the game to extra innings — which it did — but then he was hammered for three runs in the top of the 10th. Columbus managed to score two back, but the rally fell just short.

Akron RubberDucks 5, Harrisburg Senators 0 (F/7)

*RubberDucks improve to 8-4*

Akron continues to get excellent pitching and timely hitting as the RubberDucks own their third straight game. This time, it was starting pitcher Josh Hartle who had himself a game. Hartle tossed 5.1 shutout two-hit innings with seven strikeouts and three walks. The performance lowered his season ERA to 2.45.

Josh Hartle was dealing in #QuAkron tonight!!!

Final line: 5.1 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 7 strikeouts 🔥@GuardsInsiderpic.twitter.com/0GG5JIMcP8

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) April 17, 2026 Jay Driver completed the final 1.2 innings of the shutout in a rain-shortened game. On offense, Angel Genao had a terrific game, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Christian Knapczyk went 1-for-3 with a walk and Jake Fox went 3-for-4. Alfonsin Rosario went 1-for-4, but his one hit was a huge one, a three-run home run in the seventh inning to help Akron seal the win. It was his fifth home run of the season. FONSI 💣

The Eastern League home run leader with a three-run shot to the canal boat

pic.twitter.com/fhLytOEwqR

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) April 17, 2026

Lake County Captains 3, Fort Wayne Tincaps 8

*Captains fall to 5-6*

You wouldn’t think it from the final score, but this was by far the best start of pitching prospect Jackson Humphries’ young career. An eighth round draft pick out of high school in 2022, Humphries has historically struggled to throw strikes, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday. He pitched five innings, allowing one run on two hits with 10 strikeouts and 0 walks. Still just 21 years old, he’s yet another arm in a loaded Guardians system that’s worth keeping an eye on. Unfortunately, the bullpen didn’t have Humphries’ back on Thursday. Sean Matson gave up two runs in 1.2 innings, Cam Schuelke gave up another run in his 1.1 innings and Logan McGuire was absolutely blistered for four runs in his lone inning of work to remove the Captains from contention. Offensively, the Captains scored all of their runs on solo shots. Jaison Chourio had a strong game, going 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk. He’s now up to a rock solid season slashline of .273/.389/.523 through 11 games. If he keeps this up, he’ll be right back on track as a top outfield prospect in the loaded Guardians system.

Jaison Chourio with a leadoff blast 💥

The @GuardsInsider No. 9 prospect goes oppo for the High-A @LCCaptains.

We tabbed him as a bounceback prospect for 2026:

(🎥@LCCaptains) pic.twitter.com/XJz1GmXe7a

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) April 16, 2026 Esteban Gonzalez also had a great game, going 3-for-4 with a home run. Dean Curley went 1-for-3 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a stolen base and Nolan Schubart went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk. Luke Hill went 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch.

Hill City Howlers 14, Wilson Warbirds 1

*Howlers improve to 8-4*

Hill City went absolutely ballistic this game, scoring 14 runs on a whopping 17 hits with seven walks. This is going to be fun to break down, especially the top of the batting order, who all had downright disgusting games. Juneiker Caceres had an absolute monster game, going 3-for-5 with a three-run home run and a walk. After a slow start to the season, he now sports a solid .872 OPS.

Guardians 18 year old prospect Juneiker Caceres is heating up after a slow first week. One of the prettiest swings in the entire system with legit plus raw power. He will be a consensus top 100 prospect very soon. pic.twitter.com/W2jitf5C8Y

— Zach (@PhenoMVP) April 17, 2026 Leadoff hitter Dauri Fernandez also was elite, going 4-for-6 with two doubles and a stolen base. Top teenage outfield prospect Robert Arias was moved up to No. 2 in the batting order and he responded by going 3-for-6 with a double, raising his season batting average to .308 in the process. Anthony Martinez reached base safely three times, going 1-for-4 with two walks. Yelferth Castillo went 2-for-6 with a double and catcher Ty Howard walked three times and scored a pair of runs. Jhorvic Abreus went 2-for-5 with a stolen base and Yaikel Mijares went 2-for-5. The incredible offensive eruption buried the lede of some tremendous pitching performances from Hill City. Top pitching prospect Joey Oakie had his best start of the 2026 season thus far, throwing 4.0 shutout innings of three-hit ball with seven strikeouts and just one walk. Jervis Alfaro followed with 5.0 innings, allowing one run (zero earned) on two hits with five strikeouts and two walks to earn the win. Tonight's Joey Oakie recap⬇️⬇️⬇️

4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 7 K🔥 pic.twitter.com/zo0gDff6b0

— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) April 17, 2026