Prospect Jace LaViolette Begins to Find Footing in First Professional Season

The major league roster has Chase DeLauter. The minor league system has Jace LaViolette.

And both players know how to hit a home run really, really well.

While many of the eyes directed to the way of the Cleveland Guardians are focused on DeLauter, whose start to his major league career has been incredible, many may not have seen the power LaViolette flashed recently.

On Sunday, April 12, LaViolette dug into a 3-0 count before seeing a pitch he liked, swinging and sending it over 400 feet. His three-run home run sent Jaison Chourio and Dean Curley past home plate, giving the High-A Lake County Captains a comfortable lead in the first inning against the Dayton Dragons.

First career homer for Jace LaViolette. Swung 3-0 and didn't misspic.twitter.com/wcwx530uH5
— Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) April 12, 2026

In the 2026 minor league campaign, LaViolette is making his professional baseball debut. It hasn't been a storybook start, but he has had glimpses of the talent that made him so special in college.

He is currently slashing .167/.265/.333 for an OPS of .598 with two doubles and one home run. He has five hits in 30 at-bats.

After starting off slow, this past weekend's power he put on display was long-awaited, mainly due to how good he was before being selected 27th overall in the 2025 MLB June Amateur Draft.

His College Days

In his three years at Texas A&M, the 6'6", 230-pound freak of nature slashed .285/.432/.651 for an OPS above 1.0. He drove in an incredible 202 runs in 188 games played, all while mashing 35 doubles and 68 home runs.

Although his speed declined a bit after his freshman season, he did steal a total of 32 bases across three years. For someone of his size, that's a pretty solid mark.

One of the aspects of his game, outside of his knack for power at the plate, that made him so intriguing for the Guardians was his walk-to-strikeout rate. In his junior season, he drew 57 walks and struck out just 66 times, showing good composure at the plate.

While he hasn't been able to find that type of eye just yet in professional ball, the hope is that he can someday get back near that level.

Let the signings begin!

✅OF Jace LaViolette
✅INF Luke Hill
✅INF Dean Curley#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/GQjRAF9gqo
— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) July 26, 2025

Cleveland's front office is obviously very high on LaViolette, and rightfully so.

Although his start in High-A ball hasn't been the best, in the limited opportunities he did get in this year's Spring Training window, he looked pretty solid.

Across a limited sample size of six at-bats, he collected three hits, one of which was a 425-foot home run into deep right field. The ball came off his bat at 106.9 mph and was a no-doubter from the moment it left his barrel.

I’ve talked about him before, but Jace LaViolette is a freak of nature.

He’s 6’6”, 230 pounds and apparently was the second fastest guy in camp behind Stuart Fairchild.

Oh by the way, he also crushes the baseball. #GuardsBall

pic.twitter.com/9jZetPL9DI
— Cade Cracas (@CracasCade) March 25, 2026

As long as LaViolette can begin to drop his strikeout rate and continue to square up pitches and send them deep, he'll be able to continue to climb the minor league ladder. After all, the size he possesses gives him a long enough leash to stick around the organization for a couple of campaigns.

And if he can continue to keep leaving the yard, his confidence will continue to grow and his consistency will get better.

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