GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- It’s pretty clear by now that the Cleveland Guardians know how to develop guys who know what they’re doing at the plate. In 2023, the big league team finished in the top four in contact rate (80 pct, second in MLB), z-contact rate (87.9 pct, third in MLB) and swinging-strike percentage (9.9 pct, fourth lowest).

All that contact, however, has come without much in the way of impact. The Guardians finished dead last among all 30 teams in home runs (124) and 29th in slugging percentage (.381). It’s not something the club is unaware of, obviously, and there have been efforts made to address that down on the farm. The 2022 Draft brought in first-rounder Chase DeLauter, who looks like he’s putting the injuries behind him after slugging .528 in 57 games in 2023, then posting a .914 OPS in the Arizona Fall League. Their 2023 first-round pick Ralphy Velazquez, could have at least above-average power once he’s ready for Cleveland.

They’ve also brought in some pop that should be able to help soon via trade. Kyle Manzardo was hurt when he arrived in the Aaron Civale deal, but he did slug .590 in 21 games after he came off the injured list, then posted a .565 SLG in the AFL. He didn’t homer during his extended stay in big league camp this spring, but no one is complaining about his .381/.458/.476 showing over 13 games. Using various methods of player acquisition, it’s pretty clear the Guardians are all rowing in the same direction.

“The job everyone has done to create a common language provides a framework for our scouts, our people in player development, talking in both directions and kind of knowing what great looks like in the Major Leagues, and then we work backward from that,” Guardians farm director Rob Cerfolio said. “Everyone’s kind of reading off the same sheet of music when it comes to the acquisitions and development, which creates a lot of synergy and a lot more conversations across departments. I think because of that, we’ve had a lot of success developing from within and hopefully we can continue to do that with some different types of profiles.”

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That missing profile, again, has been of the run-producing power hitter who can anchor the middle of a lineup. What’s been so great about DeLauter, Velazquez and Manzardo is that while they do offer more thump than what the Guardians' system has produced lately, they’re far from all-or-nothing power guys. They fit the current philosophy while expanding it. Case in point: In his interview with MLB Network earlier this spring, Manzardo said plainly: “Strikeouts are bad.”

“We’re trying to create complete hitters and contact is certainly a pillar that we think matters quite a bit,” Cerfolio said. “But you have to be able to impact the baseball. Even guys like Steven Kwan that have come through, finding the right ways to continue to push their own improvement in those areas.

“With Chase, or Ralphie in last year’s Draft class, Manzardo coming over, it’s nice to inject some different profiles as part of your group. I think the cool thing about those guys is they also have some of those same contact and zone control traits that we think will help those guys at the highest level.”

Camp standout: Alex Clemmey

The Guardians went over slot to sign Clemmey in the second round of last year’s Draft, giving him $2.3 million in the second round. They proceeded cautiously because he hadn’t thrown in a while at the time he signed and guided him through instructional league play without sending him out for an official outing. Given that, the fact that he had a “thrower over pitcher” evaluation and was a high school lefty from a cold weather state (Rhode Island), they weren’t exactly sure what to expect from him in his first Spring Training.

Needless to say, they’ve been thrilled -- and it started early on. The stuff speaks for itself, with a 70-grade fastball and a plus curve, not to mention a newer slider he added since signing. But the 6-foot-6 southpaw had trouble in the past keeping his delivery in sync and finding the strike zone. He’s already made strides in that regard and opened some big league eyes right from the start of camp.

“We had him out here early with [manager] Stephen Vogt and [bench coach] Craig Albernaz and our new Major League staff,” Cerfolio said. “Those guys were really inviting with some of our young players getting the chance to pitch against Kwan and Will Brennan and [Josh] Naylor and guys who are in our lineup every day.

“Clemmey had been out here for almost a month and just to see him compete with the stuff he did against guys 5-6-7 years older than him … just talking to the hitters afterward, it was pretty cool to watch for a high school kid. He did a pretty impressive job just with how he handled himself, and then what he actually did out on the mound facing those guys.”

One of the things the Guardians' player development staff emphasizes is for players to really attack the things they aren’t good at. It’s been clear, in camp at least, that Clemmey really worked on the two things he needs to address to advance in the system.

“Refining the depth of the arsenal, we hope he can start for us long-term -- how can we push his secondary quality in the right direction?” Cerfolio said. “And how can we stabilize that delivery just to give him a consistent opportunity to throw strikes and allow those profiles to really stabilize from fastball all the way down to his third or fourth pitch? He’s worked very hard on that. Sometimes that’s hard for guys in their first year; they want to fall back to the things that have made them great, and he’s done just the opposite of that.”

Breakout candidate: Joe Lampe

Lampe put up huge numbers at Arizona State in 2022, with his .340/.394/.590 line helping him land in the third round of that summer’s Draft, where he got an over-slot bonus of $800,000 to join the Guardians. It looked like a tremendous pick when he broke out with a .348/.416/.493 line in April in his first full season. The wheels kind of came off after that, as he hit .211 with a .617 OPS the rest of the way. Like with Clemmey, Cerfolio and his staff pressed Lampe to use the rough lessons he learned during the offseason and they have been very pleased with how he showed up to camp this spring and how he’s performed.

“He did a heck of a job taking what he learned from it and dedicated himself in the offseason to prepare himself for Spring Training,” Cerfolio said. “He came back in really good shape and really worked on a lot of the things that we were hoping he would. We’re excited for him.”

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Something to prove: George Valera

Valera, who signed for $1.3 million back in July 2017, has teased with his potential since signing, at times showing the kind of left-handed power the Guardians really need in Cleveland. He had a .910 OPS in 2021, albeit in just 86 games, and then hit 24 homers in 2022 as a 21-year-old in Double-A and Triple-A. But he’s had trouble staying healthy, not to mention the missed reps due to the pandemic.

Still only 23, Valera missed most of the first two months of last year with hamate and hamstring issues and when he was on the field, he slashed just .211/.343/.375. The hope is he can put the injuries behind him (though a hamstring issue this spring will slow him out of the gate) and get back to tapping into that power while getting his strikeout rate (26.6 percent last year) in check.