Guardians’ Juan Brito Named MLB Pipeline Top-10 Second Base Prospect

The Cleveland prospect, who is on the Guardians' 40-man roster, had a productive 2023 season across High-A Lake County, Double-A Akron, and Triple-A Columbus.

Logan Potosky | Jan 22, 2024

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Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians have a considerable amount of young talent in their player development system.

One player who made a significant leap last season was infield prospect Juan Brito.

On Monday, Brito was named MLB Pipeline’s eighth-ranked second baseman prospect ahead of the 2024 season. This comes after he was the ninth-ranked such prospect at the end of the 2023 campaign.

The 22-year-old was traded to the Guardians from the Colorado Rockies shortly after the 2022 season in exchange for Nolan Jones. Brito was immediately added to the Guardians’ 40-man roster.

He began last year in High-A Lake County, where he hit .265 with 35 hits, nine doubles, four home runs, 14 RBI, 24 walks, three stolen bases, and an .803 OPS in 35 games. During his time with Lake County, Brito ranked third in the Midwest League with 29 runs scored, while leading the team in total bases (56), hits (tied), doubles, home runs (tied), and walks.

Then, he excelled with Double-A Akron. In 87 games, Brito hit .276 with 21 doubles, 10 home runs, 60 RBI, 48 walks, three stolen bases, and an .817 OPS. During his time in Double-A, he led the Eastern League in doubles, while also ranking top-five in RBI (second), hits (tied for third), and total bases (140, tied for fifth).

Aug 31, 2023; Akron, OH, USA; Akron RubberDucks infielder Juan Brito (22) throws to first base between innings during a game Aug. 31 against the Bowie Baysox at Canal Park in Akron :: © Mike Cardew / USA TODAY NETWORK

Finally, Brito was promoted to Triple-A Columbus, where he played his final five games of the season. He hit .214 with three hits, one double, one RBI, six walks, one stolen base, and a .736 OPS.

Overall, he hit .271 with 125 hits, 31 doubles, 14 home runs, 75 RBI, seven stolen bases, and an .811 OPS in 2023.

This led to Brito being named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star and the Guardians’ 2023 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year.

Published Jan 22, 2024

LOGAN POTOSKY

Logan Potosky is an aspiring play-by-play sports broadcaster who, to date, has called approximately 350+ hours of professional, college, and high school sporting events. He is currently the Play-by-Play Broadcaster for the Lake County Captains, the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. He graduated from John Carroll University in May of 2023 with a degree in Communication, with a concentration in Digital Media, and a minor in Entrepreneurship.