Cleveland Baseball Insider

Cleveland Guardians 2023 Top 50 Prospects, No. 38 LHP Doug Nikhazy

Nikhazy's path to the big leagues will depend on how much he can improve his command and control

Todd Paquette

Joe Bojc
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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. 38 Doug Nikhazy - LHP

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2022 Stats

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Bio

In his final season at Mississippi Nikhazy ranked third overall in wins and fifth in strikeouts with 142 amongst all NCAA Division 1 pitchers. Cleveland went on to select him in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.

2022 Season

In 2022 Nikhazy was assigned to High-A Lake County out of spring training to make his professional debut. He spent the majority of the season there making 22 starts posting a 3.19 ERA while striking out 118 batters over 93.0 innings holding opponents to a .180 average.

On August 30th Cleveland promoted Nikhazy to Double-A Akron where he made three starts to finish the season. He struggled in those three starts posting a 11.57 ERA allowing 11 walks to just 10 strikeouts.

Over Nikhazy's 25 starts on the year, he finished with a 3.96 ERA over 102.1 innings pitched. He struck out 128 batters on the year good for a 11.26 SO/9 inning rate. Batters hit just .198 against him on the season.

The only drawback in Nikhazy's pro-debut was his walk rate more than doubled from his last season in college going from 3.2 per nine innings to 6.9 in 2022. His 79 walks were tied for the fourth most in all minor league baseball.

Arsenal

Nikhazy offers a four-pitch mix that he throws out of a deceptive high three-quarters arms lot. His fastball is not overpowering and usually sits around 90-93 mph and tops out at 94. His best pitches are a couple of off-speed offerings in a 12-6 curve and a slider/cutter that both grade above average. Nikhazy also offers a fading change that grades average to above average that keep hitters off balance.

He had average command and control coming out of college but really struggled both in 2022. Nikhazy does change the speed and shapes of his pitches well keeping batters guessing.

2023 and Future Outlook

Nikhazy should open the 2023 season at Double-A Akron where he finished at last season. As of now with the command-and-control problems he displayed in his first professional season Nikhazy may be on the outside looking in as far as reaching the majors. If he can drastically improve his command and control even to the same levels, he displayed in college his stock and ceiling may rise tremendously to that of a middle or back of the rotation starter at the MLB level.

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Read More:

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Who Will Enter Guardians Rotation In Wake Of Triston McKenzie Injury?

Triston McKenzie Faces Lengthy Stint On Injured List

This Is Where The Guardians Land On MLB.com's Opening Day Power Rankings

Oscar Gonzalez Heads Into The Regular Season On Hot Streak

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Todd Paquette
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