Kody Huff is our No. 20 Guardians Prospect
Huff impressed both offensively and defensively in 2024 in his debut season in Cleveland’s system
Catching prospect Kody Huff is our No. 20 prospect after earning 27% of the vote Friday in his debut in the prospect voting. He makes his top 20 prospect debut after joining Cleveland’s system in November 2023.
Huff was a seventh round pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2022 MLB Draft. In his full-season debut in 2023, he slashed .262/.357/.374 with Single-A Fresno while throwing out 29 would-be basestealers and allowing 72 stolen bases behind the plate.
Cleveland liked what it saw out of Huff, because the Guardians traded Cal Quantrill for him in a one-for-one deal with Colorado that November.
Huff spent his entire 2024 season with Double-A Akron, where he was the team’s best defensive catcher, handling one of minor league baseball’s top pitching staffs. He caught Doug Nikhazy, Ryan Webb, Tommy Mace, Aaron Davenport, Austin Peterson, Parker Messick and Trenton Denholm throughout the campaign while they posted the best numbers of their careers. Huff is known for having elite pitch framing ability.
Huff also improved his ability to catch baserunners, throwing out 33 while allowing 66 stolen bases.
Offensively, Huff didn’t light the world on fire, but he was slightly above average, slashing .245.340.364, which was good enough for a 107 wRC+ on the season. He hit a career-high seven home runs and also managed to steal seven bases without getting caught.
#Guardians 23yr old (C) prospect Kody Huff reached base 2x today (1-3 R HR 2RBI BB) for Akron including this 2-run opposite field HR in the 7th inning that traveled 372 feet and came off the bat at 101.1 mph! For Huff it was his 5th HR of the season.
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 15, 2024
Last 10 games:
13-36 4R… pic.twitter.com/7NYybVLoAq
Cleveland promoted top catching prospect Cooper Ingle to Double-A about three quarters of the way through the season, but Akron trusted Huff behind the plate in the playoffs. It was Huff who caught those games while Ingle was DH.
Huff should be ready for Triple-A to begin the 2025 campaign and could be ready if needed should any injuries take place on the main Cleveland roster this season. If he can be even close to league average offensively, he’ll stick around in MLB for a while.