The Guardians keep stockpiling left-handed thunder, and Nolan Schubart just added another loud entry to the ledger.
Schubart became the first Guardians prospect to reach 30 home runs in a single season since Jhonkensy Noel did it in 2022, according to Guardians Prospective. Schubart has done it in 105 games, while Noel hit 32 in 133 games.
A third-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Schubart opened the year with High-A Lake County and crushed 20 home runs in 75 games there. That production earned him a bump to Double-A Akron, where he went deep twice against Somerset on Thursday and now owns 10 homers in 30 games at that level. Put it all together, and he’s sitting on 30 home runs in 105 games.
The power has been in the profile for a while. Schubart hit three home runs in 15 games with Single-A Hill City after the draft, and before turning pro he put together a massive college run at Oklahoma State, where he launched 59 home runs and posted a 1.169 OPS in his career. He also nearly won the Big 12 Triple Crown in one season.
Of course, the bat speed comes with some swing-and-miss. At 6-foot-5 and 223 pounds, Schubart has piled up 164 strikeouts in just 380 at-bats this season, and that’s the hurdle he’ll have to clear to become a real major league option.
He’s not the only big left-handed bat in the system, either. Schubart is now teammates with Jace LaViolette, Cleveland’s first-round pick in the 2025 draft class. LaViolette, listed at 6-foot-6 and 228 pounds, has 22 home runs in his first professional season and 167 strikeouts in 379 at-bats.
All of this comes with Ralphy Velazquez still sitting near the top of the organization’s prospect list. MLB.com ranks him No. 2 in the system behind only Angel Genao, and he’s been in the mix as a possible September call-up to make his major league debut. Velazquez has 27 home runs this year, though that promotion talk may have cooled some with Cleveland now riding a seven-game winning streak and getting more offense from the big league club.
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