If you haven’t heard, the Guardians’ number 1 prospect in the farm system, Ralphy Velasquez, has been tearing the cover off the ball all season in the minor leagues, including hitting 8 home runs so far in August. Today we’ll take a look at how the season has gone so far for Ralphy, and look at some possible reasons why the Guardians haven’t given him the call despite hurting for some offense in 2026.
(Data from TJStats)
We can see Ralphy has been putting up some impressive numbers so far this season.
The numbers vs LHP are especially impressive. We can see there are some dips when compared to the numbers vs RHP, but viewed on their own the numbers vs LHP are still impressive. So why haven’t the Guardians, who have been incredibly aggressive with calling up young talent so far in 2026, given Ralphy a run at the Major League level yet? The answer might be the potential of a lockout in 2027 if the MLBPA and owners do not sign a new CBA before the start of next season.
As it stands currently players on the 40 man roster are under the MLB CBA, and players not on the 40 man roster are under the MiLB CBA. If a lockout were to happen no player on the 40 man roster would be able to play even in minor league games, but all the players not on the 40 man roster are able to keep playing Minor League Baseball. Ralphy Velasquez is currently not on the 40 man roster. By keeping him off it, the Guardians are preserving the ability for him to continue his development in 2027 by playing baseball games every day.
The decision may ultimately come down to “is the 2026 playoff run worth risking stalling the development of the next potential big hitter coming up to the big leagues?” If the Guardians call him up now, he’d be added to the 40 man roster, and if there is a lockout that lasts through 2027, he may not be able to play professional baseball and continue his development during that time. The alternative is to leave him in AAA for what remains of 2026. If there is no lockout, he can come to spring training and earn a chance to make the team out of camp in 2027. If there is a lockout, however, he could remain in the minors and continue playing through 2027, potentially giving him a full season of development before getting a chance to join the Guardians in 2028.
