There seems to always be that air that surrounds the very concept of a Cleveland Guardians prospect. It envelops you, seeps into your eyes and nose, and you just get this eerie (Lake Erie?) feeling. It is a feeling you can’t shake and it buries itself deep into your bones. It takes a hold of you now and is steering your responses, controlling how you react. The grip it has is unrelenting and by the time you figure out what has transpired, it is too late. Game over man, you have been sucked in again and there is no escape. This time though it may be different. You always say it to yourself, but maybe just maybe, this is the time to rejoice. The Cleveland Guardians may actually have a prospect in the low levels of the minor leagues who is showing an extremely high potential to become a legitimate hitting prospect. This time though, they are not a hit tool prodigy that needs to scrape and claw to develop power. This prospect is Luis Merejo.

Merejo was signed by the Cleveland Guardians in January of 2023. The 6-foot-2 and 185 pound slugger has been on a quick-rising path through the minor leagues ever since. In the Summer of 2023, he would start his minor league career in the Dominican Summer League (DSL). There, he flashed some stellar tools as he went on to hit .321/.441/.485. He had an OPS of .926 to go along with four home runs, six doubles, and two triples in 40 games played. This was good enough for a stellar wRC+ of 147. He showed solid plate discipline, even for the DSL, as he had a strikeout rate of 15.3% and a walk rate of 11.8%.

A lot had gone right for Merejo in the DSL and he received a promotion stateside for the 2024 season to the Complex League. Things would be bumpy for him in his first taste of the level. He hit .189/.343/.302, with a .645 OPS, and only two home runs in his first 33 games. He was walking at a 15.6% rate, but was striking out more at 26.7%. He was still just 17 years old but needed time to adjust to the more advanced pitching. Once he turned 18-years-old, something changed and he made a transformation as a hitter. Over the next 14 games, he would smash the baseball, resulting in a slash line of .391/.569/.696, with an OPS of 1.265, two home runs, and six doubles. It was a small sample size, but he was on fire with a 217 wRC+. He was taking more walks, up to 21.5%, and striking out much less, at an 18.5% rate. All of which came while he was still one of the youngest players in the Complex League.

The hot stretch was so good, it led to another promotion to Low-A Lynchburg for Merejo. He would continue to shine as he finished the season with 30 games there and hit to the tune of .282/.372/.466, with an .838 OPS, three home runs, eight doubles, and a triple. He again was a standout with a wRC+ of 145. The plate discipline was still solid, with him walking 9.1% of the time and striking out 24.8% of the time. The power is getting close to breaking out. He routinely had hits that exceeded 100 MPH on the exit velocity at Low-A, including one at 114 MPH.

Merejo is still a player who can be overlooked a lot in the fantasy baseball world, but expect that to change quickly in 2025. A hot start to the upcoming season should see his value skyrocket into top 100 prospect territory and he will become a name everyone is familiar with. If he can start showing more in-game power as he gets stronger and older, the sky will be raining home runs off his bat for years to come. The biggest area of improvement needed for him will be his overall contact rate, which was only 67.8% at Low-A Lynchburg. For an 18-year-old it was very acceptable, but as he moves up levels that number will need to keep improving as well. This is a prospect I will be watching closely and expect to have a big 2025 season. Maybe that eerie feeling about Cleveland Guardian prospects is slowly changing to more of a feeling of hope and optimism for a change.

(Daniel Labude)