Texas A&M Star Jace LaViolette Selected By Cleveland Guardians In 2025 MLB Draft

Now batting for the Cleveland Guardians, outfielder, number 17, Jace LaViolette.

The inevitable finally happened Sunday night in the first round of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft, as the Cleveland Guardians took star Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the draft.

LaViolette is the first Aggie taken in this year's draft, as many expected, and gives the Maroon and White their second consecutive first-round draft pick after outfielder Braden Montgomery was selected 12th overall in last year's draft selections by the Boston Red Sox.

LaViolette Was Expected to Be Drafted by the Houston Astros

In just about every mock draft that was published, the Katy, TX native was expected to stay closer to home and be taken by the Houston Astros, who held the 21st overall pick.

However, it seems that Astros general manager Dana Brown had other ideas throughout the draft, instead selecting high school shortstop Xavier Neyens out of Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Washington.

And now the red-hot left-handed bat of "Lord Tubbington" will join an already star-studded group in Cleveland once he gets the call up to "The Show" that features All-Stars Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan.

Though the Guardians are struggling as we arrive at the All-Star break, they are the reigning American League Central champions after posting a 92-69 record last year, defeating their division rivals, the Detroit Tigers, in five games before turning around and being eliminated in five games by the eventual American League champions, the New York Yankees.

LaViolette's legacy in College Station speaks for itself, holding the Aggies' all-time record in home runs, with 68, breaking Daylan Holt's previous school record.

Though the Aggie baseball team went through a season that held the complete opposite of the expectations the team originally had, LaViolette was still able to maintain a consistent offensive production, with an occasional slump.

In 2025, LaViolette smashed a team-high 18 home runs and drove in 61 runs, just one season removed from the 28-homer, 73-RBI season the lefty accrued during the Aggies' College World Series run, ultimately losing in the finals to Tony Vitello and the Tennessee Volunteers in three games.

The Guardians will also be getting quite the defensive boost in LaViolette, who had no problem using his 6'6 frame to his advantage in the outfield at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, laying out for diving catches and robbing home runs on the regular.

His legacy in College Station already cemented, LaViolette will now set his sights on an even bigger legacy, a spot in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame after his career is said and done.