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Guardians Promote C.J. Kayfus

By Anthony Franco | August 2, 2025 at 11:48am CDT

Today: The Guardians made it official, selecting Kayfus’s contract from Triple-A. In additional roster moves, the Guardians activated right-hander (and recent waiver claim) Carlos Hernández and optioned outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez and left-hander Tim Herrin to Triple-A.

August 1: The Guardians are calling up first baseman/corner outfielder C.J. Kayfus, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Cleveland has an opening on the 40-man roster and only needs to make an active roster transaction.

Kayfus, 23, was Cleveland’s third-round pick in the 2023 draft. The Miami product has raked sine entering pro ball. He hit .291/.393/.511 between High-A and Double-A in his first full pro season. Kayfus hit .364 in 18 games to begin this year in Double-A. The Guards bumped him to Triple-A Columbus by the end of April. That hasn’t much slowed him down, as he’s hitting .283/.367/.526 across 289 plate appearances. Kayfus has popped 13 homers with 14 doubles and four triples.

There is some swing-and-miss concern. The lefty-batting Kayfus has punched out in a quarter of his trips to the dish with Columbus. He takes a decent number of walks but has posted higher than average whiff rates. That’s somewhat alarming for a player at bat-first positions. Kayfus has overcome that to post excellent numbers at every stop. That includes more than three months at the top minor league level.

The upper level success has made Kayfus one of the better prospects in the league. He places among the back half on updated Top 100 lists at Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He ranks a little lower in the estimation of Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs, who placed him ninth in the Cleveland system in late May. Kayfus is listed at 6’0″ and 192 pounds. He doesn’t have the usual size or plus raw power of most first basemen, but he has an extended track record of hitting dating back to his time as an amateur.

Kayfus has experience at both corner outfield positions. He’s a fringe-average runner who has enough athleticism to be a functional outfielder, though he’s viewed as an above-average defender at his natural position. Longenhagen writes that his well below-average arm strength should probably limit him to left field work when he is needed in the outfield.

Barring a Steven Kwan injury, the Guardians aren’t going to give Kayfus much left field playing time. Neither Nolan Jones nor Daniel Schneemann are performing well in right, so perhaps the Guardians will plug Kayfus into right field and live with the lack of arm strength. The other option would be to move on from Carlos Santana. The veteran first baseman is hitting .230/.321/.345 in 407 plate appearances. That includes a .195/.267/.284 showing since the beginning of June. Cleveland is paying Santana $12MM and strongly values him as a clubhouse presence, but it’s difficult to live with that kind of offense at first base.

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Cleveland Guardians Top Prospect Promotions Transactions C.J. Kayfus

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View Comments (14)
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14 Comments

  1. dixoncayne

    3 months ago

    Hopefully He can do better than Nolan Jones

    1
    Reply
    • ellisd19830

      3 months ago

      Especially when they could have dealt jones to the rockies yesterday and didnt.

      2
      Reply
      • CO Guardening

        3 months ago

        Especially since Heyman reported that Tyler Freeman was available.

        Reply
      • dixoncayne

        3 months ago

        I doubt the Rockies want Jones back. I suspect he’d make it through waivers.

        1
        Reply
  2. solaris602

    3 months ago

    Who gets the boot off the roster? Johnathan Rodriguez is my choice.

    2
    Reply
    • hockeyjohn

      3 months ago

      Rodriquez would be the choice if they see Kayfus more in the outfield. I doubt that it would be Santana or Jones.

      2
      Reply
    • One time, Cleveland

      3 months ago

      Concur

      1
      Reply
  3. mrburrsir

    3 months ago

    If they’re intent to move on from Santana, it will be to Manzardo. He’s on fire right now and has proven he can hit LHP. Needs to play every day and he’ll catch Ramirez for the club HR lead.

    Kayfus needs to play in RF.

    2
    Reply
  4. King. Of. Cards

    3 months ago

    I bet this guy’s gonna be good

    1
    Reply
    • One time, Cleveland

      3 months ago

      I see what you did there.

      Reply
  5. Dumpster Divin Theo

    3 months ago

    Better Kayfus then Doofus

    3
    Reply
    • Dolla Bill

      2 months ago

      Probably your best comment ever.

      1
      Reply
  6. Max Powers

    3 months ago

    Can’t wait to see him! Kid’s a player!

    1
    Reply
    • Avory

      2 months ago

      You haven’t seen him? So how would you know?

      1
      Reply

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