Cleveland Guardians Breakout Pitcher Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson
You rarely encounter the Cleveland Guardians committing errors when it relates to player scouting. In recent years, the team has developed potential ALL-Star hitters (Grady Sizemore, Michael Brantley), front-line starters (Triston McKenzie), CY Young winners (too many to count), lights out bullpen arms (Chris Perez, Cody Allen, Emmanuel Clase), and, depending on who you ask, a fringe Hall of Fame 3B (Jose Ramirez). Along the way the team has had some setbacks and even some of the most promising of players have been derailed by injury or slow progression (Matt LaPorta).
With that being said, the Guardians have been one of the most successful teams of the last 25 years due largely to their ability to build and develop a consistent and balanced farm system. The motto, “You win some, you lose some” and the Guardians do a lot of the latter. That occurs with taking risks and shooting for the moon. That statement holds with 2023 draftee, Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson. (Who, by now, you have surely heard of.)
Wilkinson is far from a risky play. A 10th-round selection in 2023, Tugboat (as he is nicknamed) was more of a “shoot for the moon” name. The Guardians, known for pitching development, took a “risk” in 2023, signing High School arm, Alex Clemmey in round 4 (who is finding his footing in Lo-A). Tugboat is one of those, “pat yourself on the back” steals teams seem to find every so often. Here’s looking at you, Anaheim.
Tugboat is a low-risk, high-reward player. In the Guardians’ case, it is more than just a random occurrence to unearth these gems. Cleveland scouted the JUCO ranks to find Tugboat. They were able to lure him away from his commitment to Arizona State. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Tugboat stands in at 6’1 and is listed at 271 lbs. If the Guardians wanted to build a wrestling stable with their prospects, Tugboat would be the world champion (Jhonkensy Noel do not read too much into that statement). He is a presence on the mound. Oddly enough, Tugboat does not throw gas or hit the high velocities. Tugboat himself says his best trait is his ability to locate the ball around the strike zone. We always like to compare pitchers who can command the zone and pinpoint their spots to surgeons. Well, if that’s the case then Tugboat is Ben Carson. While he probably couldn’t operate on conjoined twins (Carson’s claim to fame), he did throw 15 strikeouts while issuing not one hit over 6 innings in a game this season for Lo-A Lynchburg. That’s surgeon-level pitching.
I will be 100% honest, I do not know if Tugboat is a frontline starter. Surely a lot of Cleveland fans reading this will have my head for that, however, Tugboat’s offerings are not strong per se. They do not scream frontline starter. He can locate the ball, as we mentioned, and his spin rates are incredibly high. A lot of Wilkinson’s strength comes from his ability to disguise the lower velos and master those spin rates to throw off hitters. (almost like he’s Houdini). We have seen lights-out closers dominate with one pitch.
Mariano Rivera’s cutter was contoured masterfully. We have also witnessed starting pitchers use location and finesse to succeed. Greg Maddux comes to mind as that player. With how today’s game is played, I am more aligned with the reliever role being the likeliest scenario for Tugboat’s career arc.
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When it comes to Cleveland, all bets are off. If they see something in a pitcher, they will find a way to get it right. Look at the recent example of Hunter Gaddis. A 5th and pick in 2019, Gaddis was thought of as a starter in the Guardians organization. Gaddis tore through the minors and made his way to Cleveland. As a starter, Gaddis had mixed results. Cleveland did pull the plug on Gaddis’ starting pitching career, however, he is now one of the league’s top set-up men.
A few differences to Gaddis, he does have some velo on his fastball. I’d also argue his slider is more effective than Tugboat’s. But again that is where the location comes in. This is also why the Guardians are one of the best ar developing pitchers. We can’t say what they will unlock in Tugboat’s arsenal or how they can enable him to master the role that best suits him and the team.
You will find tons of articles on Tugboat Wilkinson. He is no secret to the baseball community.I am sure this is not the first article you have read about Tugboat either. Every year, Cleveland seems to have a new hot name in the pitching prospect realm. Last year it was Will Dion, now it’s Tugboat. It felt as if last year, nobody talked about Will Dion as much. While he did not have that masterful 15 K game, I myself was very impressed with his development.
Tugboat, though, he’s a player you will go home and talk about. The nickname itself sounds like a ball player. The mystique and the above-average body frame bring in a cult-like following not seen in Cleveland since Bartolo Colon. That is why so many articles have been written about Tugboat. That is also why so many more will be written in the future.
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Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
