Cleveland Baseball Insider

Cleveland Guardians 2023 Top 50 Prospects, No. 40 OF Wuilfredo Antunez

A high ceiling center field prospect with a nice blend of power and contact, Antunez wowed scouts in the Arizona Complex League in 2022

Todd Paquette

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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. 40 Wuilfredo Antunez - OF

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2022 Stats

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Bio

Antunez signed with Cleveland as an international free agent on April 25th 2019 for a mere $10K out of Rio Tucani, Venezuela. He made his pro-debut that year appearing in only 19 games in the Dominican Summer League. In 2020 he lost the season to the pandemic and in 2021 to leg injuries. Antunez finally made his return to the field after two lost years of development in 2022.

2022 Season

Antunez was assigned to the Arizona Complex League in 2022 where he triple slashed .295/.444/.538 with a .983 OPS and 167 wRC+ over 21 games before earning a promotion to Low-A Lynchburg. Unfortunately for Antunez his season ended early after suffering a leg injury. While at Lynchburg he appeared in just 5 games where he went 2-for-6 with four walks hitting .333 with a .600 OBP over 10 plate appearances.

Scouting Report

Antunez has a quick left-handed swing with the ability to work deep counts drawing walks while still looking for pitches he can drive. Despite his aggressive approach he makes a lot of hard contact while keeping his strikeout rate low. Antunez nice blend of power and speed and approach at the plate really impressed scouts in the Arizona Complex League.

Antunez plus speed on the bases and could potentially turn into a 20-20 candidate if he continues to develop and stay healthy. He has the ability to play all three outfield positions and shows good instincts on defense and possesses a strong arm. He has spent most of his short career in center field and has the ability to remain at the position as he moves through the organization.

2023 and Future Outlook

Antunez should start the 2023 season with Low-A Lynchburg with a chance for a promotion to High-A Lake County later in the season. Antunez has a lot of nice tools with a high ceiling especially if he remains in center field. Only having 41 professional games under his belt it's hard to project to much but Antunez has the looks of a future MLB regular in center field with a possibly floor of a speedy fourth outfielder with some pop of the bench from the left side.

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Todd Paquette
TODD PAQUETTE

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