Cleveland Guardians outfield prospect Jace LaViolette is trying to make his power play work at a higher level, and that means tightening up the parts of his swing that have gotten him into trouble.
LaViolette, a first-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft and a recent promotion to Double-A, has the kind of pop that can change a game in one swing. The issue is the same one that has followed him this season: too many strikeouts. Cleveland has already started nudging him toward a mechanical fix, and analyst Justin Lada recently pointed out the adjustment in LaViolette’s stance.
“Jace LaViolette homered tonight. You can see the difference between where he is tonight (8/21/26 - left) and back in May on the right.
Pretty clear Cleveland has him standing/staying taller in the box. Less downward movement on the front leg from the back.
Will it work? Time will tell,” Lada said, with a picture of both stances.
Jace LaViolette homered tonight. You can see the difference between where he is tonight (8/21/26 - left) and back in May on the right.
Pretty clear Cleveland has him standing/staying taller in the box. Less downward movement on front leg from back
Will it work? Time will tell pic.twitter.com/mzU4c0t1Y1
- Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) August 22, 2026
The visual comparison suggests LaViolette is a little more closed off now, a tweak that could help him stay on the ball and produce more consistent contact.
There are signs the change is at least giving him some traction right now. On Friday, LaViolette’s solo homer put Akron in front in the seventh inning. Over his past three games, he’s hitting .364 with a .462 OBP, two home runs, four RBIs, two walks and a stolen base.
The raw production is easy to see. LaViolette has 21 home runs this season, with 19 coming in High-A and two in Double-A.
But the strikeout rate is still the red flag hanging over everything. Between the two levels, he’s struck out 37.7 percent of the time, the kind of number that makes teams hesitate when evaluating a hitter with his profile.
That’s the tension with LaViolette. The power is real, and the upside is obvious enough to dream on - maybe 35 homers and 20 steals at the MLB level someday. But that ceiling only matters if the strikeouts come down, and that’s why this stance change is worth watching.
For now, it’s a small adjustment with a big question attached. Only time will tell.
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