The people have spoken and Jace LaViolette is our No. 14 Cleveland Guardians prospect for 2026. LaViolette brought in an impressive 39.8% of the vote, beatin gout Joey Oakie (25.5%), Juneiker Caceres (13.2%) and Alfonsin Rosario (12.2%).<\/p>\n
LaViolette was Cleveland\u2019s first round draft pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, selected 27th overall. Unlike several of his fellow draftees in the Guardians system, he has yet to make his professional debut.<\/p>\n
LaViolette is a sharp shift in Cleveland\u2019s drafting strategy, known for his power more than his contact ability. He was projected to be a top 5 pick after his sophomore season at Texas A&M, when he blasted 29 home runs and slashed a ridiculous .305\/.449\/.726. This followed up an almost equally impressive freshman season when he smashed 21 home runs and slashed .287\/414\/.632 at age 19.<\/p>\n
In his junior year, however, LaViolette took a step backward, hitting just 18 home runs and slashing .258\/.427\/.576. He posted a career-best walk rate of 21.8% but his strikeout rate also increased to 25.2%, which set off some alarms.<\/p>\n
Strikeouts are an issue with LaViolette. Even in his best season in 2024, he whiffed 24.3% of the time. That being said, maybe some of Cleveland\u2019s coaches who have so much experience with contact-first prospects can work their magic and help him miss fewer baseballs without sabotaging his immense power potential.<\/p>\n
The Aggie stands 6-foot-6 and can play all three outfield positions for now. Look for him to debut straight to High-A Lake County. It\u2019ll be interesting to keep an eye on his contact skills and strikeout rate throughout the season to see if he\u2019s made any adjustments.<\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s time to determine who is number 15 in the Guardians\u2019 loaded farm system and you now have a whopping 10 players to choose from! Your options are below:<\/p>\n
Juneiker Caceres, OF (Age 18)
2025 (CPX) 160 PA, .289\/.419\/.469, 3 HR, 5 SB, 16.9 BB%, 11.3 K%, 139 wRC+
2025 (A): 130 PA, .250\/.331\/.345, 1 HR, 2 SB, 6.9 BB%, 13.1 K%, 103 wRC+<\/p>\n
Impressed at the complex league, then hit the ground running in a late season promotion to Single-A before running out of steam late in his age-17 season. Loaded with potential.<\/p>\n
Dean Curley, 3B (Age 21)
2025 (NCAA) 294 PA, .315\/.435\/.531, 14 HR, 8 SB, 15.3 BB%, 16.0K%, 118 wRC+
2025 (A) 35 PA, .242\/.286\/.273, 0 HR, 1 SB, 5.7 BB%, 31.4K%, 67 wRC+<\/p>\n
Cleveland\u2019s second round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Curley plays all infield positions, but needs polish. He was part of Lynchburg\u2019s championship run after joining the team late in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
Dauri Fernandez, SS (Age 18)
2025 (ACL) 176 PA, .333\/.398\/.558, 6 HR, 16 SB, 9.1 BB%, 12.5 K%, 147 wRC+
2025 (A): 24 PA, .273\/.250\/.318, 0 HR, 2 SB, 0 BB%, 12.5 K%, 57 wRC+<\/p>\n
One of Cleveland\u2019s top performers in the Arizona Complex League in 2025. Undersized, but makes solid contact and doesn\u2019t strike out often. Earned a small taste of full-season ball at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Franklin Gomez, LHP (Age 20)
w\/ Mets 2025 (A): 14 G, 82.0 IP, 1.85 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 21.4 K%, 11.7 BB%, 1.09 WHIP
w\/ Mets 2025 (A+): 6 GS, 48.2 IP, 1.70 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 23.4 K%, 9.9 BB%, 1.83 WHIP<\/p>\n
Acquired from the Mets in a trade for international bonus cash, Gomez lit up Single-A in his age-19 season, then improved his walk and strikeout numbers after being promoted to High-A.<\/p>\n
Yorman Gomez, RHP (Age 23)
2025 (A+): 17 G, 76.0 IP, 2.84 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 27.3 K%, 9.5 BB%, 1.11 WHIP
2025 (AA): 10 G, 45.2 IP, 3.15 ERA, 2.50 FIP, 28.0 K%, 9.5 BB%, 1.25 WHIP<\/p>\n
Venezuelan prospect who broke out in with increased velocity in 2025, putting up nearly identical numbers at both High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron. Gomez was added to Cleveland\u2019s 40-man roster.<\/p>\n
Josh Hartle, LHP (Age 22)
2025 (A+): 22 GS, 103.1 IP, 2.35 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 24.0 K%, 8.9 BB%, 1.05 WHIP
2025 (AA): 2 GS, 10.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 16.3 K%, 4.7 BB%, 1.50 WHIP<\/p>\n
Acquired from Pittsburgh in the Spencer Horwitz trade, Hartle was one of Cleveland\u2019s most successful starting pitchers in its minor league system in 2025. Stands 6-foot-6, but doesn\u2019t have a ton of velocity.<\/p>\n
Joey Oakie, RHP (Age 19)
2025 (ACL): 9 GS, 35.0 IP, 7.46 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 27.6 K%, 13.5 BB%, 1.69 WHIP
2025 (A): 6 GS, 24.1 IP, 2.22 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 30.7 K%, 14.9 BB%, 1.32 WHIP<\/p>\n
Cleveland\u2019s 3rd round pick in 2024 out of high school, Oakie got off to a rough start in the Complex League, but then absolutely dominated when promoted to Single-A Lynchburg with a pair of 11 strikeout performances.<\/p>\n
Austin Peterson, RHP (Age 26)
2025 (AA): 11 GS, 55.0 IP, 1.47 ERA, 3.29 FIP, 23.9 K%, 4.9 BB%, 0.84 WHIP
2025 (AAA): 15 GS, 90.2 IP, 4.27 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 20.2 K%, 7.8 BB%, 1.37 WHIP<\/p>\n
Absolutely dominated Double-A to begin 2025 looking well on his way to repeating his tremendous 2024 season, but then struggled after an early-season promotion to Triple-A. Remains on the 40-man roster.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Rodriguez, SS (Age 18)
2025 (ACL) 122 PA, .294\/.393\/.402, 1 HR, 11 SB, 12.3 BB%, 18.9 K%, 116 wRC+<\/p>\n
One of Cleveland\u2019s top recent international signings, Rodriguez put up strong offensive numbers in his stateside debut in his age-18 season in 2025. Expected to transition to full-season ball this year.<\/p>\n
Alfonsin Rosario, OF (Age 21)
2025 (A+) 354 PA, .268\/.362\/.490, 16 HR, 12 SB, 10.8 BB%, 25.1 K%, 139 wRC+
2025 (AA): 145 PA, .211\/.303\/.391, 5 HR, 2 SB, 10.3 BB%, 33.1 K%, 105 wRC+<\/p>\n
One of Cleveland\u2019s most impressive hitters in its minor league system during his stint at High-A Lake County as a 20-year-old. Rosario has a unique combination of speed and power, but will need to overcome his strikeouts.<\/p>\n
Our list so far:
1. Chase DeLauter, LHH OF
2. Travis Bazzana, LHH 2B
3. Parker Messick, LHP
4. Ralphy Velazquez, LHH 1B\/RF
5. Angel Genao, SH SS
6. Braylon Doughty, RHP
7. Cooper Ingle, LHH C
8. Khal Stephen, RHP
9. Juan Brito, SH 2B\/1B\/RF\/3B
10. Jaison Chourio, SH OF
11. Kahlil Watson, LHH OF
12. Daniel Espino, RHP
13. George Valera, LHH OF
14. Jace LaViolette, LHH OF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The people have spoken and Jace LaViolette is our No. 14 Cleveland Guardians prospect for 2026. LaViolette brought…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2380],"tags":[5,135,51,38367,2565,538,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-550605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-guardians","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-guardians","11":"tag-cleveland-guardians-prospects-minor-leagues","12":"tag-clevelandguardians","13":"tag-guardians","14":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116001999863032809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}