Throughout the course of their history, the Cleveland Guardians have taken pride in their development system.
They know that they need to be at their best in terms of finding and developing players if they want to compete at a high level and keep up with the big markets.
That has been particularly true with middle infielders and pitchers.
With that in mind, it’s not much of a surprise to see that Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report believes they’re going to take a similar approach to the 2026 MLB Draft.
In his latest column, he had the Guardians taking UC Santa Barbara RHP Jackson Flora with the No. 17 selection:
“Flora pitched alongside 2025 first-round pick Tyler Bremner in the Gauchos rotation this spring, and he is poised to step into the staff ace role after going 6-3 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 86 strikeouts in 75 innings. He is a polished, high-floor arm with plus command, and the development of his changeup as a viable third offering will determine how high he can climb on draft boards,” Reuter wrote.
Judging by the scouting reports, Flora does sound like the type of prospect that usually entices this organization.
The Guardians just welcomed Parker Messick, their No. 12 prospect, to the big leagues on Wednesday.
He was out there for 6.2 innings and gave up just one run before exiting after 83 pitches.
They also acquired Khal Stephen in the Shane Bieber trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, and while he might still be a year or two away from making his MLB debut, he looks like another potential superstar in the making.
This team needs as much help as they can get, and with no clear-cut aces on the roster right now, perhaps their best shot at getting one will be to find and develop one.
Of course, a lot can happen from today to the day of the draft, so we should take this with a grain of salt.
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