Guardians Had Clear Strategy During First Night Of MLB Draft

Outside of Hynes, an 18-year-old prep school pitcher, there is a clear theme among the four of the five players the Guardians took through the first three rounds: they all have incredible power potential.

LaViolette slugged 18 home runs with an OPS of 1.003 during his third season with the Aggies. He arguably has the best raw power of any prospect in the draft.

Curley is also a player with home run potential for a shortstop or third baseman. He may not have the raw power as others, but his quick hands and rotation in his swing make up for that.

Walton is an outfielder with a big frame and wide swing. MLB.com described him as "power over pure bat, showing some swing-and-miss. But he made some adjustments heading into the spring and has struck out less.

Schubart may not be the best defender for an outfielder, but he can hit. MLB.com's scout report of the OSU slugger gave him a power grade of 60 heading into the draft.

Any player that possesses raw power, as the majority of these draft selections do, comes with a caveat: they tend to have a high swing and miss rate as well.

The same can be said about Cleveland's draft class so far.

LaViolette and Schubart have some swing and miss concerns. However, if they're hitting home runs, then a lineup can live with one or two players who punch out at a high rate. Plus, they still make good swing decisions, and teaching a prospect what pitches to swing at is half the battle.

It's no secret that the Guardians are desperately searching for an answer to their lack of offensive production from the outfield position group at the big league level.

It probably won't be a year or two until one of these players is ready for MLB at-bats, but Cleveland clearly focused on adding prospects with potential to be a middle-of-the-order slugger once they reach the big leagues.  

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