CLEVELAND -- The Progressive Field faithful welcomed C.J. Kayfus with open arms on Saturday, when the 23-year-old made his MLB debut and was greeted with multiple ovations. It has not taken Kayfus long to begin validating that excitement.
Kayfus (the Guardians’ No. 4 prospect, No. 66 overall) picked up his first career big league hit on Sunday during a 5-4 loss to the Twins, when he doubled in the ninth inning. It was part of a late rally by Cleveland, which scored twice as it attempted to erase a three-run deficit before ultimately falling short.
“That was awesome,” Daniel Schneemann said. “I’m sure he’ll remember that for the rest of his life. I was super excited for him.”
Kayfus hit .300 with 14 homers and a .929 OPS over 86 games between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus this season to earn a callup Saturday. Over his first seven at-bats in the Majors, he went 0-for-7 (including an RBI groundout in his first career plate appearance on Saturday).
Kayfus was 0-for-3 on Sunday when he stepped up to hit in the ninth, but he said early results were not weighing on him.
“I just tried to control what's controllable, honestly,” Kayfus said. “I would have liked for [my first hit] to have come a little sooner, maybe an at-bat or two before. But the guys around me make me feel at home. So they made it a lot easier.”
Kayfus got a first-pitch slider from Twins right-hander Michael Tonkin in the ninth, and he swung through the 83.3 mph offering at the bottom of the strike zone. Tonkin came back with another slider, around the same spot, which Kayfus took for a ball.
Surely, Tonkin wouldn’t throw another slider, right?
“I swore he was going to throw a fastball,” Kayfus said. “I got three sliders in a row, and I got to it. I hit it pretty good.”
Kayfus smashed Tonkin’s 1-1 slider just over the outstretched glove of Twins right fielder Alan Roden. It had a 108.4 mph exit velocity. He had one ball hit harder that was tracked by Statcast during his stint with Columbus this season (a 110.4 mph single on May 7 vs. Indianapolis).
After it fell in for a hit, Roden fired a relay throw to catcher Ryan Jeffers, who then tossed the ball to Cleveland’s dugout for Kayfus.
It was briefly intercepted by José Ramírez, who jokingly pretended to toss the ball into the crowd before handing it off to an MLB authenticator.
Kayfus’ demeanor and mindset despite his early 0-for-7 stretch speaks to the quiet confidence that Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz described Sunday morning. As Albernaz put it, “It never seems like he’s over his skis or overwhelmed.”
Albernaz pointed to Kayfus’ at-bat in the eighth on Saturday. He worked a good at-bat while a raucous Progressive Field collectively cheered and chanted his name before he struck out swinging on a 2-2 changeup.
“He gives a professional at-bat every single time,” Albernaz said. “The way he goes about his swing and approach to the plate is going to err to a lot of that. He doesn't have a one-groove swing; he has a swing that has a bunch of different movement solutions to different pitches.
“That's something where he's never going to get -- in my opinion -- overwhelmed by pitching. It gives him enough time to see pitches and grind out at-bats. So that's something that I think is going to be his calling card moving forward. He’s such a great kid, and he's not going to be overwhelmed at this stage.”
It’s early, but the Guardians have been impressed so far.
Cleveland fell behind, 4-0, in the first inning, when the Twins tagged starter Joey Cantillo for four runs on five hits, including four singles. Minnesota led, 5-2, entering the bottom of the ninth, when Nolan Jones drew a leadoff walk, Kayfus doubled and Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run single.
Kayfus also retrieved the baseball from his first RBI. He said both will be gifts to his parents -- his dad (David), stepmom (Karen), mom (Haika) and stepdad (Frank) -- who have meant a lot to his baseball journey.
“Just high school, summer ball, the work they've had to take off to pretty much just drive me around, honestly, the country -- California, Arizona, Georgia. Man, there were so many tournaments everywhere. And it really just shows how much they care and want what's best for me.
“I just can't be grateful enough.”