Columbus Clippers 2025 season preview
There’s a lot to like in Columbus for 2025 with several elite prospects knocking on the door for an MLB opportunity
The Columbus Clippers 2025 season begins tonight, but I had to wait until a few last minute moves were made by Cleveland before putting together my season preview.
Columbus is the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, just a two-and-a-half hour drive up I-71 to the show, and let me tell you, we have quite a few talented players who are almost ready to make their MLB debuts.
The 2024 Clippers finished an impressive 80-68, a top-three record in the International League. They also were the best team in the league in the second half, going an impressive 48-26 to finish second in the IL West. With the talent in Cleveland’s system, there’s a good chance that they will have another strong season in 2025.
Here’s the starting lineup for the Clippers today.
- Will Brennan RF
- Juan Brito 2B
- Angel Martinez LF
- Will Wilson 3B
- Kody Huff C
- Petey Halpin CF
- DH Dom Nunez
- 1B Dayan Frias
- Milan Tolentino SS
Guardians fans should be more than familiar with Will Brennan, who has played off an on in right field for Cleveland the past two seasons. He’ll be the first man up if Nolan Jones, Steven Kwan or Lane Thomas is injured.
Brito seemed poised to take Cleveland’s starting second base position, but will have to continue to prove himself at Triple-A while Gabriel Arias gets the first crack at consistent reps there.
Angel Martinez showed flashes in his MLB debut in 2024, but a rough spring forced Cleveland to send him back to Triple-A to get back on track. Huff, who was acquired from Colorado in the Cal Quantrill trade, is good enough defensively to play at the MLB level right now. He’ll continue to refine his offense in Triple-A this season as he waits for an opportunity.
Halpin was a surprise addition to Cleveland’s 40-man roster in November. He struggled last season repeating at Double-A, but was promoted to Columbus to begin this season. Frias is an international prospect who can play all four infield positions if need be while Tolentino is one of the younger additions to the Triple-A roster at just 23 years old.
Wilson was a former first round pick by the Angels and was selected by Cleveland in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.
Also available for the Clippers are C Jake Anchia, IF Christian Cairo, 1B/OF Micah Pries, OF Justin Boyd and IF Kyle Datres. Cairo was selected by the Braves in the Rule 5 Draft but returned after failing to make Atlanda’s opening day roster.
Starting Rotation:
Doug Nikhazy LHP
Ryan Webb LHP
Trent Denholm, RHP
Carter Spivey RHP
Zachary Jacobs RHP
For the rotation, Nikhazy is coming off a dominant Spring Training and he was the starting pitcher for Cleveland in the 2024 Spring Breakout game last year. Having already been added to the 40-man roster, he will likely be one of the next men up should Cleveland’s starting rotation need any help.
Ryan Webb had a strong 2024 campaign and surprisingly went unselected in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, so he’ll be one of the top starters for Columbus this season. Webb doesn’t blow people away with his velocity, but he’s shown a penchant for striking out hitters at an above average rate at every level he’s pitched.
Denholm had a strong 2024 campaign and has posted excellent strikeout numbers throughout his minor league career. This will be his first taste of Triple-A.
Spivey and Jacobs are both skipping Double-A and likely are being used as depth pieces while Cleveland waits for veteran players like Koby Allard and Vince Velasquez to become available.
Other starting pitching options for Columbus who are beginning the season on the injured list are Slade Cecconi, who Cleveland acquired from Arizona in the Josh Naylor trade; and former top prospect Daniel Espino, who is expected to make his return this summer after missing the past 2 1⁄2 seasons with injuries.
Bullpen:
Andrew Walters RHP
Andrew Misiaszek LHP
Parker Mushinski LHP
Tanner Burns RHP
Bradley Hanner RHP
Nick Mikolajchek RHP
Riley Pint RHP
Jack Leftwich RHP
Zak Kent RHP
Mason Hickman RHP
Ross Carver RHP
The Columbus bullpen is loaded with top bullpen prospects like Franco Aleman and Andrew Walters plus Nic Enright, who are all on Cleveland’s 40-man rosterbut currently aren’t listed for the Clippers roster. There also are plenty of intriguing arms looking to bounce back from injury like Andrew Misiaszek, Nick Mikolajchak, former top draft pick Riley Pint, plus a few intriguing arms like Parker Mushinski and Tanner Burns.
I’m a bit surprised that a few pitchers are starting the year at Double-A like Parker Messick and Austin Peterson, but as long as they pitch like they did last season, they won’t be there long.