Futures on the Corner: Matt’s Top 45 Guardians Prospects

Well…it’s that time of year again! I’ll spare you a long-winded intro with a medium-winded intro instead. The Guardians are coming out of the MLB Draft having lost out on their second round pick, Logan Schmidt, who was a shoo-in for this list’s top 10, but they did a solid job replenishing needed depth around the system.

There are a couple new wrinkles to the list and the rankings that are vital to the process. Firstly, you will see star ratings on every graphic. Working similarly to college football

or basketball’s one to five star scale, this will work similarly. How do we get to those star ratings? Great question. Everything else, namely the future value (FV for short) works like the traditional 20-80 baseball scale, from hit tool to power to defense and decisions. Another factor that plays into the star rating a player receives is their 80th percentile FV, or FV80. This is a grade I give a player based on what I believe their skillset can develop into at an 80th percentile level. This is less of “if everything comes together” kind of thinking as it would heavily cater towards heavy tools in flawed profiles, but it works more along the lines of projecting what a player has shown in their development thus far and casting a net to capture what their best likely outcome is.

One last note: if you see red stars, that signifies an extreme profile risk, whether for injuries or extreme tool flaws and/or extreme outcome swings.

We’ll look back briefly at the preseason Top 20 (only on Twitter, sorry) as we expand out to 45, and take a look at players who have graduated as three of my top 10 prospects have since moved onto bigger and much better things at the big league level for the Guardians.

Chase DeLauter (PRE #1 // 60 FV): DeLauter rakes, who knew! Fully living up to the 60 I threw on him pretty aggressively, DeLauter has been the best hitter for a Guardians offense in desperate need for anything and everything across the power/contact/approach spectrums. He hit a clear wall and then got hurt, but since, he’s been terrific. A clear #1.
Travis Bazzana (PRE #3 // 55 FV): I’ve been very critical of both Bazzana and the org’s overwhelming desire to play it safe living through his selection as the 1.1 in his class, but it’s critical within the realm of a 60-grade I placed on him. There are some real concerns with his quality of contact, and the bat speed is playing well below what I thought he could get to, but he’s been an above average hitter and positive value player even through his cold spells because he has shown different ways to impact games, and he’s also flashed the power potential when he consistently gets to his pull-side.
Parker Messick (PRE #7 // 50 FV): I screamed and shouted to anyone that listened that Parker Messick was going to be a good major league pitcher, and here I am, before god and country, admitting that even I underrated Messick. As a rookie, his fastball trails only Jacob Misiorowski’s ultra heater in run value, and he’s even seen an uptick in velo by over a full mph since last season, and his changeup is among the best in the league. An absolute stud who’s going to get a lot of Cy Young votes.

Alright, now let’s get into the NEW and IMPROVED and LONGER list, starting with our brand new number one:

1) 1B RALPHY VELAZQUEZ | 55 FV | 65 FV80 | #23 T100
PRESEASON RANK: 2
21 | L/R | 6’1” / 240 lbs | Huntington Beach HS (Huntington Beach, CA)
ACQUIRED: ‘23 Draft: 1.23
HIGHEST LEVEL: AAA-COLUMBUS

Velazquez is a specimen unlike anything we have seen in this organization in quite some time. I ranked Velazquez second coming into the season despite Bazzana having a proximity edge over him, but that’s just how highly I think of the bat here. Thus far in Triple-A, Velazquez is running a 105.6 EV90, good for 84th percentile. It took Velazquez a minute to figure out Triple-A, and his chase and whiff rates have ballooned over 30% each, but for a 21 year-old who has only shown that he will figure out the level with the more at-bats he gets, I have no doubt that he’ll figure this level out as well.

Velazquez hammers all pitch types, though RHP changeups have been prone to giving him issues. Velazquez’s hot streak last season in Double-A saw him find elite power to all fields. This season, especially lately, he’s been finding optimized pull-side launch while his z-con% still hovers right around 80%. Velazquez has precocious feel for the barrel. His hard hit launch angle sits at 19°, well above the Triple-A average, showing that he’s getting his hardest hit balls lifted and with thump, and this is really where his ceiling comes into play. Ralphy has all-fields home run power, but to best optimize it in Cleveland, he’ll need to find it pull-side, and he is at a high level.

Velazquez has shown some defensive versatility, but in a perfect world, he’s manning first base for the foreseeable future.

2) SS ANGEL GENAO | 55 FV | 60 FV80 | #28 T100
PRESEASON RANK: 5
22 | S/R | 5’11” / ~190 lbs | Castillo, Dominican Republic
ACQUIRED: IFA 2021
HIGHEST LEVEL: MLB

A shortstop by trade who has found himself scattered across the infield since his promotion, Genao has proven right away to be more than just a ceiling to hope on but a high floor, immediate helper for a roster in desperate need of his skill set in Cleveland.

A switch hitter, Genao is once again fully healthy and has elevated himself back towards the top of this list, a list he sat at #1 on this time a season ago, after dealing with nagging injuries that depleted his production in 2025, causing him to drop to 5th on the preseason list.

Genao would be a lock for the top of this list if not for a couple of things, only one being in his control. Velazquez has ascended into the premier first base prospect in the sport, now knocking on the door for Cleveland, and Genao, while possessing above average power, has struggled for years now elevating his best exit velocities. Genao’s raw data reads like 50+ power potential. In Triple-A, Genao ran a 104.7 EV90 (76th percentile) and 45.5% hard hit rate (76th pctl), but that equated to a 5.5% barrel rate. This comes down to his pure ability to launch. The Triple-A average hard-hit launch angle (average LA on batted balls hit at 95+ mph) is 12°. Genao’s sits at 6°.

That being said, it’s not overly extreme, and it’s more separated by handedness. Genao lifts the ball better from the right side, running an 11° hard-hit launch angle, but his EV’s and overall hard hit rates aren’t as strong as those from the left side.

Defensively, Genao has already proven to be versatile, naturally gifted with a high baseball IQ and a plus arm. If he can develop into a plus defender, there’s a real outside shot at 5-tool potential here. Long story short, Genao is destined to play in Cleveland for a very long time, and we’re merely in the infancy of it now.

3) OF JUNEIKER CACERES | 55 FV | 60 FV80 | #29 T100
PRESEASON RANK: 10
19 | L/L | 5’10” / 168 lbs | Los Taques, Venezuela
ACQUIRED: IFA 2024
HIGHEST LEVEL: A+ LAKE COUNTY
ETA: 2028

Caceres is the best pure hitter in the Guardians’ system at just 19 years old, and if his swing decisions improve as expected, he has 70 hit tool potential, the highest grade I’ve ever given a hit tool within this organization.

There are two key inflection points in 2027 that will make or break Caceres’s potential growth to #1 on this list sometime next season: can he collect himself against breakers (he hits them well and has no issue seeing spin, but he’s far too aggressive and will extend the zone too much) and can he start finding quality exit velocities when hitting fly balls? Caceres is a pure line drive hitter who has seen his own physical development lead to above average underlying metrics for his age (104 EV90 per TJStats), but his power potential is heavily tempered by his inability to find his best EV’s with home run-carrying launch.

So, why does this create an issue? It’s all in projection. Caceres has naturally gifted hands with barrel control that is second to none, the swing is just fairly flat. If anyone in this system could sell out to hunt for more consistent launch, it’s Caceres as his precocious hitting ability likely would not be hurt much, if at all. It’s vital to Caceres, as a 55 FV player, that he does develop 15+ MLB home run power because if his hit tool is the major carrying tool come two seasons from now, he’s more likely to be a 50 FV.

4) RHP BRAYLON DOUGHTY | 50 FV | 60 FV80 | #37 T100
PRESEASON RANK: 4
20 | R/R | 6’0” / 203 lbs | Chaparral HS (Temecula, CA)
ACQUIRED: ‘24 Draft: CB-A, Pick 36
HIGHEST LEVEL: AA-AKRON
ETA: 2028

REPERTOIRE
4-Seam: 92-95 T98
Slider: 86-89
Cutter: 88-92
Curveball: 82-85
Changeup: 84-88

I have covered Braylon Doughty extensively both in written form and on any podcast that lets me talk, but this is the most excited I’ve been about a prep arm in this organization since Daniel Espino was rising the ranks. Doughty, while a bit undersized, has all the makings of a mid-rotation staple, but he’s now dealt with arm fatigue in August in each of his first two seasons. Getting stronger and building the capacity for innings will continue to be something he needs to work on and also monitor, but the pure stuff here is terrific.

Doughty is mechanically further along than just about anyone for his age and has done nothing but excel at every level he’s been at. Doughty began the season in Lake County, and right around May, he turned up a level, riding a strong May and June into a Double-A promotion. Doughty’s biggest strength is plus command across his entire six pitch arsenal, a repertoire that’s only deepened since he found more separation between his slider and cutter.

Doughty, outside of his first start (new team, new ball, etc.) has been terrific in Akron despite the aforementioned arm tightness, and even since he’s returned, he’s picked up right where he left off. The low-80’s curveball has double plus potential as its tremendous drop and 3,000+ RPM spin capability combine with tremendous command and big horizontal movement, creating a lot of swing and miss against either handedness.

It’s flat out one of the best curves in the minor leagues. Doughty’s ceiling right now feels a bit gray, but the floor is a big league starter, 4th or 5th in a rotation. The ceiling, if he can reach the 94-95 mph range on his heater consistently, feels like he can comfortably figure into a mid-rotation slot. The fastball shape is strong enough to be an above average pitch as he’s still reaching back for 96-97 early in starts, and though he settles back into 92-94 regularly, there’s a higher likelihood that he develops this into an offering that can be more 93-96.

The cutter and slider have slight separations and their usages based on handedness largely create their effectiveness. I see the slider developing into a beast of its own given Doughty’s spin propensity. The more separation he finds between the offerings, the more I think he settles in with a devastating slider.

Doughty doesn’t use his changeup a ton. The feel for it is easily his weakest and he exclusively uses it against LHH. He opts for a cutter/four-seam mix primarily against lefties, and he’s seen that drive up his swing and miss against them, but a changeup will be a pivotal development as he nears Cleveland.

5) RHP LIAM PETERSON | 50 FV | 60 FV80
PRESEASON RANK: N/A
21 | R/R | 6’5” / 225 lbs | University of Florida
ACQUIRED: ‘26 Draft: 1.19
HIGHEST LEVEL: N/A
ETA: 2028

REPERTOIRE
4-Seam: 94-96, T99
Slider: 85-89
Curveball: 77-83
Changeup: 85-88

Peterson was Cleveland’s first round pick in this Summer’s draft, and the Guardians are chasing the upside big time here. Peterson has big stuff. He toys with 100 mph, settling down into the mid-90’s on his fastball, and his size and 6.6-foot release height create a steep angle for the heater. There’s a lot of Gavin Williams to Peterson’s mechanics and breaking shape potential, and that alone is enough to buy in.

The fastball has all the desired traits from spin capacity to velocity (20+ iVB, 2500+ RPM), but Peterson’s inability to locate his entire arsenal plagued him all season as a junior at Florida.

The calling card here is the slider. Peterson’s mid-to-upper-80’s slider was a wipeout offering throughout college, generating big time miss rates north of 50% in his draft season.

When he can command it, it’s been unhittable, but he often found himself behind in counts, making him go away from the slider and lean way too much on the fastball, ultimately handcuffing his best two pitches. There’s also a low-90’s cutter that tries to escape from his slider at times, so just know that’s in there.

Peterson flashes a fringe average, upper-80’s changeup that feels like it has real potential to be a future above average offering for him. He’s still able to get high spin on it, and it generates big arm-side run while staying pretty vertical, letting it tunnel with the fastball well.

Florida does not develop pitching all that well (see: firing their pitching coach). That’s why valuing Peterson’s stuff, spin, and mechanical potential is vitally prioritized right now. Cleveland’s pitching dev team gets a lot out of most all of its high-end pitching prospects, and they’re primed to go crazy getting their hands on Peterson.

6) OF AARON WALTON | 45 FV | 55 FV80
PRESEASON RANK: N/A
22 | 6’4” / 218 lbs | R/R
ACQUIRED: ‘25 Draft: CB-B, P66 | Arizona
HIGHEST LEVEL: AA-AKRON
ETA: 2027
Walton has emerged as the top player thus far in what’s been a strong offensive ‘25 draft class, showcasing improved mechanics in the box as well as above average, pure effort defense in the outfield.

Walton has a unique leg kick that gets him going in the box. It’s about as big as you’ll see and it’s slightly altered from his swing at Arizona and a bit longer, but he does a good job keeping himself on time. My concern is, as he continues to see better pitching, if the moving parts there lead to struggles staying on time and in rhythm, but the newer leg kick has helped him get his lower half engaged in his swing, leading to a big power surge this season. Walton has seen his underlying metrics get a big boost, posting EV90’s north of 105 mph at both Lake County and thus far in Akron.

There’s all-fields power here, but the home run power is going to come pull-side almost exclusively. Some of his better contact thus far in Akron has also come at lower launch points, so seeing him elevate with more consistency will be vital as he continues to climb the rungs here. Walton has real 55-grade future value because his bat has potential to be a power-led above average stick while his defense has real plus potential. Walton shows average speed, gets strong reads, has an above average arm, and above all else, is fearless in centerfield. He can and will stick in CF, and that is vital to this high of a ranking as he creeps ever closer to T100 consideration.

Curley has remained the same profile at the plate, and thus far, he’s finding a lot of success with it.

An overly passive hitter (1st percentile swing rate and zone-swing rate), Curley’s approach is simply something you don’t see in MLB. The average z-swing% in MLB is 64.7%. Curley’s 47.9% mark would be the lowest in MLB among players with 150+ PA. Where this comes into play tends to be against breakers and offspeed. Does Curley’s passivity lend to his sub-20% chase rate, or does he see offspeed well? As in many cases, the truth rests somewhere in the middle, and the high K-rate is something worth noting as a player running ~80% z-contact% shouldn’t be striking out 30% of the time. That being said, Curley’s noted improvements at the plate have very little to do with how much or little he swings, and it’s why, despite his low defensive grade, I have him top-10.

Curley’s swing was very long coming into the season. A lot of his best contact was oppo because of a noticeable hitch in his handset. The positive for Curley is that his hand speed is quality with good bat speed, and he’s cleaned it up a bit, finding much better contact while finding better results against velocity. Curley has upped his air-pull rates

Curley has played a lot of shortstop, but he’s going to have to be a 3B long term. He just struggles mightily in all facets laterally, and his hands are sub-par. Getting him to a corner where he’s only covering a large portion laterally to his left is the clearest projection here.

8) IF WELBYN FRANCISCA | 45 FV | 55 FV80
PRESEASON RANK: 18
20 | 5’8” / 148 lbs* | S/R
ACQUIRED: ‘23 IFA | Dominican Republic
HIGHEST LEVEL: A+ LAKE COUNTY
ETA: 2028
Francisca has had a full resurgence back to the status of prospect he was coming out of 2023. Between swing changes and injury, 2024 derailed his path briefly, but 2026 has been full go for Francisca as soon as he returned to the field.

Francisca is up 10 spots from the preseason, and he’s even up five spots from where he was this time last season. He has seen physical maturation (that 148 lbs is certainly wrong) turn into a full understanding of his approach, and it’s turned into a major power surge as Francisca has blasted 16 home runs in Lake County thus far.

There are some swing decision nitpicks with Francisca as he’s still a fairly free swinger, extending the zone quite a bit, but it’s necessary to split this up by handedness, with some help from TJStats.

Francisca has been obliterating right-handed pitchers, especially depositing fastballs with ease. His chase rate is significantly better than his overall mark, and he’s barely whiffing north of 20%. This is where the bread gets baked for Francisca, and the left side will continue to be why I remain high on his outlook despite his RHH woes because outside of Velazquez and Caceres, Welbyn’s bat from the left side is the bat I’m most excited about.

Defensively, Francisca feels like a better fit for 2B than shortstop. He has a strong arm, but it’s been a bit erratic, and his movements look much smoother overall at second. There’s even an outside chance be winds up in the outfield as his plus speed and aforementioned arm make for a possible transition out there.

REPERTOIRE
4-Seam: 93-96 T98 | Slider: 83-86
Cutter: 87-92 | Curveball: 75-78
Changeup: 82-84
HIGHEST LEVEL: AAA-COLUMBUS
ETA: 2027
Campbell’s story is well known, and in his first season pitching in the Guardians’ organization, he’s been everything the dreamt of when drafting him back in 2022. Campbell is a big presence on the mound at 6-foot-5, and, similar to Peterson, works very vertically, getting on top of hitters with his fastball. Campbell’s heater sits ~94, reaching back for 97 and a rare 98 early in outings. It’s a big ride-n-run heater, generating north of 17 inches of vertical break and just shy of a foot of arm-side run. It’s an average pitch that can play up to plus at times. Campbell mixes in a quality, plus changeup off of it, generating nearly 17 inches of arm-side tail while cutting close to 10 mph off his fastball. He will tunnel it very well off the heater against lefties, and any solid contact against it is few and far between.

Where Campbell has thrived is in his ability to adjust. He dominated Lake County in a way we’ve not seen from a pitcher in years, but when he got to Akron, he was struggling to get the same consistent swing-and-miss and chase outside the zone. So, he adjusted. More cutter, less early count sweeper, and he found himself working ahead in the count, and over his final four starts in Akron, he was striking out 30% of batters while generating whiff rates north of 35%. He is still struggling to generate chases, but he pounds the zone with big stuff with a slider whose shape he’s still working on finding.

Campbell will need added to the 40-man this offseason, but Cleveland will have no issue doing that. From ulnar decompression surgery to Tommy John to wrist surgery, Campbell’s comeback story is nothing shy of a miracle. An oblique injury delayed his debut in Columbus by over a month, but he will finish out his season with the Clippers, capping off a tremendous first year of progress. Campbell will factor into the back-end of the rotation competition in ‘27 if all goes well, and at the very least, there’s a quality reliever in here if his arm just can’t handle to year to year work given the injury history.

10) LHP FRANKLIN GOMEZ | 45 FV | 55 FV80
PRESEASON RANK: N/R
21 | 6’0” / 220 lbs | L/L
ACQUIRED: Trade w/ NYM, Jan. 2026
HIGHEST LEVEL: AA-AKRON
ETA: 2028

ARSENAL: Fastball/Sinker: 91-94 T96 | Slider: 81-84 | Changeup: 84-87 | Cutter: 85-88
Rounding out the top-10 is Franklin Gomez, a pitcher who I strongly believe will be a capable back-of-rotation arm at the MLB level. Gomez dealt with an elbow injury scare in 2026, but thankfully, it wasn’t anything more than that, and he returned from the IL, going from Lake County to Akron. Similar to Doughty, whether it be new ball, etc, Gomez’s first outing was rough. He rebounded nicely, however, and looked like the same old Franklin Gomez.

Gomez possesses some of the best command in the system across his entire arsenal. He works from a high three-quarters slot, and his fastball has some cut-ride traits, generating above average ride. He also mixes in a sinker that he almost exclusively uses against lefties, and then runs a cutter that he’ll use to either handedness.

The real gems here are Gomez’s secondaries. His sweeper gets a lot of ugly swings and can be used against either handedness, but it’s especially effective against lefties for whiffs, and a lot of them. The changeup is a nasty change-of-pace offering that serves as an equalizing whiff and weak contact pitch. Gomez tunnels well, but it’s the area I want to see him continue to flesh out the most in Akron to end the season.

Gomez thrives on sequencing and command to generate weak contact. His changeup and sweeper are both running high quality wOBA against marks, and those two pitches will help carry him through this system and into a back-end starter role.

Hill already feels like the prototypical bat-first utility piece of the future, or at least that was before the oblique injury. He started the season off on a torrid pace in Lake County, and it was the power surge that shocked everyone, hitting more home runs in the first two months than he ever did in a single season at Ole Miss. Hill has shown sustained power ability, and even though it’s average bat speed, his quick hands, quality barrel control, and top flight swing decisions have made for exit velocities well above what he was showing in college. Hill’s EV90s at both High-A and Double-A are well above average, though because of the aforementioned oblique injury, it’s crept down a bit as of late.

Hill swings and misses a bit more than his profile would indicate, but the trade-off has been more XBH and home run power as well as trading some passivity for more aggression in the zone.

Defensively, Hill is a jack of all trades, master of none. He’s fringe average across the board, and below average at 3B, but the ability to be able to stick him at the three non-1B spots across the infield makes his versatility that much more valuable. He’s an average runner with a good IQ on the base paths. All in all, this is exactly the kind of player Cleveland needed in its system, and most importantly, he’s swinging from the right side.

Chourio has bounced back exactly how he needed to, coming off a 2025 riddled with injuries that affected his swing and everyday game significantly. While I still end up being the low man on Chourio – Baseball America had him in their Top 100 – the reasons largely come down to defense and approach.

At the plate, Chourio remains incredibly passive, but it’s better than it’s been in previous seasons. The groundball rate, while still high, is down overall, something he’s continually worked on. Now, the pull-side propensity has ticked up, but if he can start converting some of his pulled batted balls into line drives and flyballs, his above average raw power could turn into some fringe average to average game power. Chourio is much better from the left side, generating more consistent quality EV’s while lifting the ball, and his swing is tailored better to elevate the ball more.

Where Chourio struggles offensively is from the right side and with his overall passivity in the zone. We will touch on it more later, but he stares at fastballs in the zone quite often, leaving a lot of meat on the bone.

Defensively is where Chourio suffers the most. He’s a poor defender in centerfield who will have to make the move to a corner at some point. Despite plus speed, his reads are rough and routes are even worse. With more work, he can improve, but I don’t envision him ever becoming an average defender, eventually taking him off a premium position entirely.

ARSENAL: Fastball: 95-97, T101 | Slider: 85-88 | Changeup: 87-91

Sims was Cleveland’s big prep signing after the debacle that was Logan Schmidt, and the 6-foot-8 right-hander has as much raw clay for the Guardians to mold as you’ll have seen in the system in a very, very long time.

Sims boasts a huge fastball with triple digit ability with a longer arm action. Sims notably raised his arm slot this year, and it’s seen his fastball generate more carry while finding the upper 90’s with more consistency as he continues to fill out his massive frame. The physical projection is as tantalizing as anything else. The velo is already there, the 6’8” frame is as well, but now it’s about building strength up from the 215 pounds and allowing his lower body to work more in tandem with his upper half.

The reliever risk is a vast amount of the projection, as it always is with size, traits, and velocity in this package. That being said, even below average to fringe average command would signal that Sims has a future as a starter, and the Guardians are going to give him a long runway into finding that out because a starter ceiling with this kind of stuff is limitless.

If you’re looking for your Guardians 2026 breakout prospect of the year, look no further than Ryan Cesarini. While I’ve been higher than most on Cesarini, I still didn’t have him within the preseason Top 20 (he was 26), and this should really show you a couple things; one, thanks to surges like Cesarini and Luke Hill and others we’ll get to later on, this has become a deeper system in the middle of the pack, and I think Cesarini is in a prime spot to emerge as a player who can separate from that pack a bit.

Cesarini had been a bat-to-ball, contact-centric swinger since the day he was drafted. He’s always been making solid contact, but this season, Cesarini approached his…approach…in search for more. Cesarini operated with a quick toe turn as a timing mechanism to quickly get his compact swing in motion to cover all fields. Now, Cesarini is looking to create damage, and he’s orchestrated a minor leg kick, allowing him to get more stable weight on his back leg to drive through his hips more efficiently. You’ll see in the 2025 swing in the gif above that Cesarini is a bit squatty and that his hips fly open, a commonality throughout his ‘25 tape. Now, his hips stay through his swing, and he’s in a much more athletic, stable base, allowing him to create the launch he’s been seeking.

Cesarini’s raw power output has backed up his results, with hard hit rates north of 40% in Akron, as well as an EV90 above 106 mph. Cesarini is an adequate defender with average speed, and he will be a corner outfield utility type who hasn’t shown any kind of weakness in splits. This is a huge rise for Cesarini, and I now firmly believe in him finding a way up to Cleveland some time in 2027 at the rate he’s going.

…here we go.

Where to even start with LaViolette? Top flight athlete, adequate to above average in the field, cannon of an arm, above average speed, 70-grade raw power. LaViolette has also found his best power to the pull-side. That’s all to say that LaViolette’s struggles are capable of completely derailing him.

LaViolette has a below average hit tool at a level right now that would disqualify him from ever being a big leaguer. The top of the zone completely owns him as his swing is tailored and grooved to win against low pitches, and his plate coverage is not strong enough for him to win along the outer third with any consistency, and it leads to some suboptimal quality of contact and a ton of strikeouts. Even getting that up to a 35, Gallo-esque hit tool could do him wonders considering the strengths of all his other tools being able to create value.

That’s what makes ranking LaViolette so difficult. He was poised to fall in rankings as he continues to work on changes to his stance and swing. Through changes come adjustments on the fly in the box, and we’re seeing that in real time in Akron as his overall numbers continue to fall. 2027 will be a huge year for LaViolette’s future within the org. If he progresses, there’s something here, but the flip side is just as likely, if not more so.

I have been lower on Cooper Ingle than most, and it comes down to two things: I don’t think he can stick behind the plate and an untenable approach at the plate. Ingle is an undersized catcher whose arm isn’t strong enough and defensive prowess lacks behind the dish. This has pushed him into a corner outfield spot both in Triple-A at times and fully at the ML level during his cup of coffee up in Cleveland. It goes without saying that Ingle struggled mightily in the outfield, and all it’s done is raise major questions about his future.

At the plate, Ingle possesses a fairly extreme profile. Prior to his promotion, Ingle displayed extreme passivity against all pitch types, but especially fastballs. MLB’s average swing rate against fastball types (fastballs/sinkers) in the zone is 65.5%. Ingle’s was 53.1%. Prior to his promotion, Ingle’s approach saw him running tremendous whiff rates, chase rates, and overall quality contact, but it simply wasn’t tenable with a minuscule 36% swing rate. The answer to why it wasn’t tenable is simple: MLB pitchers have no reason to fear Ingle and would attack in the zone at a much higher rate with better stuff. Ingle often found himself behind in counts, and he uncharacteristically struck out in 12 of his 21 at-bats in Cleveland.

Things have shifted a bit for Ingle since being demoted. That 53.1% zone-swing rate against fastball types has elevated up to 67.6%, now above the major league average. With more aggression against heaters has come more swing and miss across the board, namely against sliders. I think this is a net positive for Ingle though. He had to come off the extreme approach and be willing to actually put his hit tool to use. Ingle has above average bat to ball skills with quality barrel control that he harnesses in a quick, compact swing that he generates quality lift with. While there are some pretty extreme splits concerns here, if Ingle wants to profile as a major league bat, this was the change he had to make, and it’s a huge deal that he’s doing it now.

ARSENAL: Fastball: 93-96 T98 | Slider: 80-83 | Changeup: 81-84 | Cutter: 88-91
Zibin has found it in 2026. Command, mechanical consistency, sequencing, all of it. It’s night and day for Zibin from last season, his first pro season after missing three years due to various arm injuries (Tommy John in ‘23, ulnar nerve transposition surgery in ‘24). Like Justin Campbell in that same draft, the lengthy absence showed signs of rust, but the talent is breaking through in a big way in 2026.

Zibin took a few starts to adjust, but since the start of May, he’s largely been very good, and since his promotion to Lake County, he’s taken off. Zibin finished August with a 0.64 ERA and .132 batting average against. The command has taken leap from below average to fringe average potential, and his arsenal is beginning to flesh out into that of a starter’s.

Zibin’s fastball lives in the mid-90s consistently. It was the pitch he needed to find consistent command with, and he has. Shape-wise, the fastball can be a bit dead zone-y, generating as much run as ride, but he tunnels well off of it, allowing him to generate more swing-and-miss and weak contact than expected.

Zibin’s bread and butter is his changeup. It has plus potential with really sharp late bite. It generated a whiff rate north of 40% in A-ball, and it’s been just as effective thus far in Lake County. Zibin mixes this in against either handedness which is a bit unique in today’s repertoire splits, showing his comfortability and success with the offer. A new cutter has been mixed in, helping Zibin live in the zone a bit more, and it’s mixed well off the fastball as well as Zibin’s sweeper which has served effectively against right-handed bats.

Zibin has upped his strikeout rate by over 12% from last season while dropping his walk rate 2%. This is a real deal starting pitcher prospect now, and though some reliever risk still hangs around as the command is still a work in progress and the preexisting arm issues lurk, Zibin has made himself a name to watch in the org.

18) RHP KHAL STEPHEN | 45 FV | 50 FV80
PRESEASON RANK: 6
24 | 5’8” / 190 lbs | L/R
ACQUIRED: Trade w/ TOR, July 2025
HIGHEST LEVEL: AA-AKRON
ETA: 2029

Khal Stephen probably had the most unfortunate 2026 of any Guardians prospect. Stephen’s command had previously been above average while flashing plus on certain pitch types. That all took a huge step back, namely with the fastball which he left center-cut way too often with diminished shape. All in all, Stephen’s time within the Guardians org has been spent struggling, and now he will go under the knife for Tommy John surgery, derailing his 2026 and all of his 2027.

ARSENAL: Fastball: 97-100 T101 | Slider: 90-93 | Changeup:
Espino pitching in the major leagues in 2026 is nothing shy of a miraculous success story. Espino flashing 100 multiple times? We’ve never been more back.

Espino drops to 18 now for one reason, and that reason is that I solely see him as a reliever now. The care and overall caution this organization has handled Espino with this season not only makes a ton of sense, but it showed me that they don’t really see him as a starter long-term. While the dream of having Cleveland’s version of deGrom (Espino) and Cole (Gavin) seems dead, Espino’s future with this team is not. Daniel Espino has dominant backend reliever written all over him.

Espino’s fastball is still double plus, somehow, as its velocity, shape and Espino’s ability to optimize it at the top of the zone have culminated in a 52.8% whiff rate against big league bats. The big issue was his inability to find the zone, though a lot of that could come down to how seldom he was used. Espino has not pitched in consecutive days, and they rarely go to him every other either in Columbus or Cleveland. That kind of usage is enough to disrupt some outing to outing adjustments, and while understandable, it has been a bit frustrating.

Espino’s gyro slider is a 92 mph bullet train that stays verty and can serve similarly to a cutter earlier in counts, and his curveball is a pitch he’s been going to more since going back to Columbus, and he’s seeing huge swing-and-miss success with it now.

While Daniel Espino will likely never toe the rubber as a starter in a playoff game for the Guardians, he will absolutely do so as a reliever in big spots for years to come.

ARSENAL: Fastball: 95-97 T100 | Slider: 85-88 | Changeup: 87-91 | Cutter: 89-91
Oakie is among my biggest droppers, and it all comes down to a regression in command and overall mechanical deficiencies that scream reliever future. Oakie was a huge riser for me to end last season after showcasing better command over his final month and turning in the two most dominant starts by a Guardians pitching prospect in 2025. Enter ‘26, however, and the same ugly woes are back, and we’re right back down to 20-grade current command.

Oakie’s fastball command is bad right now. The buggy whip action he gets creates a ton of deception, and the velocity it generates does a lot of work, but he has no idea where it’s going right now. Oakie’s slider is a dominant offering in the mid to upper 80’s that can completely overwhelm hitters when he’s ahead in the count, but he rarely is.

The best move here is to just stash Oakie away for a rainy day next season and see what his mechanics look like. The long whippy action has to end, or we’re looking at another Chase Mobley.

21) OF KAHLIL WATSON | 40 FV | 50 FV80
PRESEASON RANK: 17
20 | 5’9” / 178 lbs | L/R
ACQUIRED: Trade w/ MIA, Aug. ‘23
HIGHEST LEVEL: MLB
ETA: 2026

Watson drops a bit here, solely due to the additions of Liam Peterson, Luke Hill, and Savion Sims as well as Jacob Zibin’s breakout. My outlook on Watson has not changed at all since before the season, but Watson has shown one area of improvement that may be what keeps him on a major league roster as a depth piece one day and buy him time to figure out his offensive approach, and that’s his above average, bordering on plus defense across the outfield. Watson is an average defender in center while showcasing some plus defense in the corners in Cleveland, including an above average arm and speed.

What holds Watson back is what’s always been Watson’s kryptonite: he whiffs too much at all pitch types. Watson has run a whiff rate north of 30% in Triple-A. That number is above 30% for fastball, offspeed, and breaking types. It’s so hard to succeed when whiffing that much, and while he hasn’t shown a penchant for chasing much in Triple-A, that discipline went by the wayside during his run in Cleveland as he was running an O-Swing% of 35.6%. Watson simply may need more time at the major league level to work out his kinks, but unfortunately, the line in front of him is pretty long.

Broussard was Cleveland’s third round pick out of the University of Houston, and he’s a very interesting profile worth keeping an eye on.

Broussard’s handset at the start of his swing is a bit high, above his head, and this creates an unconventional path to the ball. I think the Guardians will try and clean this up a bit, finding something a bit more natural to anchor a more consistent swing path.

Broussard was a pure bat-to-ball contact hitter in his last season at Houston, showcasing sub-20% whiff rates and high-80% range zone-contact ability. Broussard feasted on fastballs in the zone, and when the rare pulled flyball happened, he tended to hit them a long way. There’s more power in Broussard’s profile that his stats don’t tell you. Broussard posted a max-EV of 110.4 mph with strong average EV’s and what would equal out to be right around MLB average bat speed. Some swing and approach changes will be in the works here, and Broussard’s natural bat-to-ball ability should be able to survive a search for a more complete profile.

Defensively, Broussard is incredibly gifted in centerfield, and he will be able to stick there long-term. He has plus ability in center, and his double plus speed not only makes him a threat on the base paths, but it makes his already strong reads in the outfield even more advantageous.

Broussard will not make his affiliated debut until 2027.

Schubart might just be my favorite player here.

Monstrous, sky-scraping power with surprisingly good swing decisions, Schubart differs from his fellow 2025 extreme hit tool partner in that one simple regard. Swing decisions. Schubart ranks low for a reason. He’s landlocked at the most non-premium defensive position on the field and/or a DH, and his bat profile is beyond extreme. There isn’t a single everyday big leaguer striking out 35+% of the time, and Schubart’s 64% zone-contact rate is 6% lower than the lowest of MLB. This profile rhymes with the extreme power hitting profiles of today’s game, but the overall success rate of someone of this level of extreme is low.

But enough about why it won’t work and more about why it could. Schubart just about whiffs equally at all pitch types, but he’s selective at what he does swing at. Schubart’s swing is so unique. He physically towers over the ball as he swings, getting bend on his upper body that you wouldn’t see anyone else generate. This does create two distinct features to Schubart’s swing: a ton of whiff above the thighs and prodigious power against anything below them. Schubart’s success across the minor leagues this season is driven by his ability to dominate the lower half of the zone with passable plate coverage without being overly aggressive and extending beyond it all the time. When Schubart does chase, it’s almost always down and away as he’s big game hunting, but he’s still poised enough to lay off the vast majority of the time.

I said it the other day, but Schubart is impossible to rank as I’ve never once put stock into a profile like his, and he may be among the most extreme 3TO profile that you’ll find, but I’ll be damned if he isn’t fun.

Herrera is a name you need to become acquainted with ASAP. Herrera was a bit older for the Complex League at 20 this season, but he dominated it to the tune of a .324/.487/.721 slash line with 11 home runs in 35 games. He received a promotion out of the CPX to Hill City where his keen eye and power production has continued.

Herrera is a Guardians special of a swinger. He controls the inner half, aims to lift and pull and finds his power that way. Herrera doesn’t expand the zone much, and he’s found success against all pitch types thus far.

What makes Herrera more advanced than others around his age in this system is his approach. Herrera is a two-handed finisher, finding his best power that way, but he’ll adjust his swing in two-strike counts, opting for a flatter bat path and one handed follow through, simplifying his approach to battle to get on base. Beyond that, Herrera has also flashed well above average power outputs for his age, and the Guardians may have something brewing here.

Defensively, Herrera is still a bit stiff behind the plate but has an above average arm. He’s done well controlling the run game thus far at levels where pitchers can’t be bothered holding runners, now he gets a chance to further develop his pitch to pitch mechanics back there. It can be harder to project out from A-ball, but Herrera lands as the highest ranked catcher who I think sticks behind the plate.

25) C KODY HUFF | 40 FV | 45 FV80
PRESEASON RANK: N/R
25 | 5’9” / 198 lbs | R/R
ACQUIRED: Trade w/ COL, Nov. ‘23
HIGHEST LEVEL: AAA-COLUMBUS
ETA: 2027

Huff has been a bit of an enigma this season, emerging onto the radar almost out of nowhere. Arriving in Cleveland’s system via the Cal Quantrill trade, Huff has scratched out a very good second season in Columbus, providing solid play across the diamond, from catcher to third base to first base. That being said, you’ll see by the grades that I think Huff has been playing above his skis in Triple-A, and I’ll explain why.

Since the All-Star Break, Huff has had a hard time finding consistency, namely against right-handed pitching. Even with some home runs against RHP at the end of July, Huff has struggled against them in this span, but he’s crushed left-handed pitching exclusively.

I had a hunch based on Huff’s whiff rates by pitch type and pitcher handedness in the first half that this would be how this enveloped, and thus far, that’s been who he is in the second half. This is why I have a hard time buying into Huff any more than I had already been coming into the season. The defensive versatility likely sees him some time in Cleveland, but outside of him coming up and crushing the ball right away when he does get that chance, I don’t see him as a long-term big league option.

ARSENAL: Fastball: 91-94 T96 | Slider: 80-84 | Changeup: 82-86
Hynes was the player taken with the comp pick received in the Josh Naylor trade. Hynes, just 19 years old, has a ton of physical projection left on his frame, firing from a three-quarters slot with capable velocity already.

Hynes has three pitches right now as he works on developing consistency in his mechanics and release point. Hynes’s fastball is more run over ride, generating big arm-side tail, working almost more as a 2-seam profile. The slider is his easiest pitch to project as it generates good spin rates with a ton of sweeping movement. The key with the slider will be keeping it from getting so loopy and staying up. When he can get the slider to bite, it’s been a huge swing-and-miss pitch, but right now, there’s a lot of shape inconsistency. His changeup has been used almost exclusively to lefties. It pairs really well with the fastball when he can locate.

Hynes is a ball of clay already being molded. He is younger than Savion Sims, for reference, and has all the chance in the world to develop into something of note here.

Lachance exploded onto the scene after a monster late season tear and eventual CWS run, winning the College World Series with Oklahoma. Lachance’s profile is very simple. He will swing and miss, he is hunting to hit bombs, and behind the plate, he’s more comfortable than he once was, showcasing more consistent footwork blocking balls.

Lachance’s calling card that can keep him behind the dish is his quick pop time and cannon of an arm. As we move into a world where more teams begin to call pitches from the dugout, Lachance’s profile behind the plate will likely emerge as the preferred one: big bat, control the run game, keep balls in front of you.

The hit tool will be the concern. Can he keep from whiffing too much as he climbs the ranks through the system? Time will tell, but the swing is geared for big power, and his personality is geared to win over this fanbase as well.

Arias was poised for a huge leap up this list (I had him at 13 when I began putting this together in early June), but a fractured ankle on a really unfortunate play ended his season. It’s unknown right now if Arias will miss any time early next season, but my only concern is just how much an injury like a fractured ankle could affect a player whose speed and athleticism are the driving force behind their profile. Wishing Robert all the best, and if he comes back looking the same way he did before the injury, expect a massive leap up this list.

Martinez has had a stellar season thus far, taking a much more patient approach to A-ball after struggling in the short stint he spent there in his draft year. His swing decisions have been quality, his approach is very good, and he’s been aggressive in the zone while doing a lot of damage with quality plate coverage.

Martinez has showcased above average power thus far as well, exhibiting a 105.2 EV90 in Lake County thus far with hard hit rates over 40% at both levels this season, and this makes him a bit of a rare breed 1B bat across minor league baseball. Big power tends to have some give and take with some swing and miss, but not for Martinez. Martinez has supplemented his power with little swing and miss (18.3% whiff%) little zone expansion (22.4% O-Swing%), and elite zone-contact and swing selection rates (91% Z-con% with a 49.% Z-O Swing%). Should Martinez get up to Akron in 2027 and continue this, he’s going to skyrocket up these rankings.

One of the bigger fallers on this list, Dauri Fernandez is still a player I like quite a bit, but his approach at the plate has to clean up. Fernandez is a slash-n-dash profile whose contact ability and double plus speed make for a terror when he gets on base. Fernandez has really strong bat-to-ball skills, but a K-rate that’s jumped 8% (albeit from the CPX to affiliated ball) lends to some digging into. Fernandez is running a pretty extreme chase rate, and it’s affecting his ability to get on base at the rate he should. Fernandez has a good eye, but leaning on a solid bat to do all the work just isn’t going to work as the pitching gets better.

When Fernandez is on base, he’s a total pest. Fernandez has swiped 54 bags at the time of this release this season, though he’s been caught 16 times. Where his speed and suddenness helps him most is defensively. Fernandez doesn’t have the smoothest of hands, but he can get to balls many others can’t due to good reads across the infield and his quickness. He also possesses an average arm, and I think he can stick at shortstop.

Fernandez simply has to mature at the plate. The larger concern here is his frame may not have a lot of physical development in it of itself, so developing a better approach is paramount to his future success.