The Cleveland Guardians made a deliberate decision in the 2025 MLB Draft. They wanted to add power to a farm system that had historically prized pitching development and contact oriented hitters over raw power production. Less than a full season into that decision, four of their picks from that draft class are already making the choice look like a home run.
The numbers are genuinely striking for a draft class that has been in professional baseball for less than a year.
“Cleveland Guardians looked to infuse the farm system with more power in the 2025 MLB Draft. So far so good as they have four of their picks already with double digit home runs on the 2026 season. 27) Jace LaViolette – 10 HR / 42 Games; 66) Aaron Walton – 11 HR / 50 games; 101) Nolan Schubart – 11 HR / 49 games; 132) Luke Hill – 10 HR / 42 games,” Guardians Prospective wrote.
Cleveland #Guardians looked to infuse the farm system with more power in the 2025 MLB Draft. So far so good as they have four of their picks already with double digit home runs on the 2026 season.
27) Jace LaViolette – 10 HR / 42 Games
66) Aaron Walton – 11 HR / 50 games
101)…— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) June 6, 2026
Four players from the same draft class. Four players with double digit home runs before the midpoint of their first full professional season.
Jace LaViolette leads the group as the highest drafted of the four, taken 27th overall in the first round out of Texas A&M University. The 22-year-old centerfielder, leftfielder, and rightfielder from Pensacola, Florida stands 6’6 and 228 pounds. LaViolette has 10 home runs in 42 games, a pace that would project to well over 30 across a full 162-game schedule if maintained at the professional level.
Aaron Walton is the most prolific home run hitter of the four through his first 50 games, sitting at 11 on the season. The 22 year old centerfielder, rightfielder, and leftfielder from Nashville, Tennessee was taken in the second round out of the University of Arizona after transferring from Samford University. He stands 6’4 and 218 pounds and brings a right handed bat with legitimate impact potential in the middle of a lineup.
Nolan Schubart matches Walton at 11 home runs but has done it in 49 games, making him the most efficient power producer of the four on a per game basis. The 22 year old leftfielder, rightfielder, and first baseman from Detroit was taken in the third round out of Oklahoma State University. He stands 6’4 and 227 pounds and brings a left handed bat with a career minor league slash line that already shows a .384 on base percentage and an .835 OPS across his two professional seasons.
Luke Hill rounds out the group with 10 home runs in 42 games and perhaps the most surprising profile of the four. The 22 year old shortstop, third baseman, and second baseman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was taken in the fourth round out of the University of Mississippi after beginning his college career at Arizona State.
Travis Bazzana’s emergence this season has demonstrated that they can also identify and develop elite offensive talent at the top of the draft. The 2025 draft class adds a third dimension to that developmental identity, suggesting Cleveland can now evaluate and cultivate power in the middle and lower rounds of a draft at a level the organization has not historically been associated with.
NEXT: Travis Bazzana Is Quietly Becoming One Of Baseball's Best At His Position
