The Cleveland Guardians were busy on Sunday, making a whopping 16 selections in the MLB Draft over the course of about eight hours as rounds 5-20 were held.
Cleveland has a history of finding some gems past round five, historically selecting Jim Thome in round 13 of the 1989 MLB Draft. More recently, the Guardians have found success in round five or later with picks like Steven Kwan (fifth round, 2018), Hunter Gaddis (fifth round, 2019) and Tanner Bibee (fifth round, 2021). Some current players came from rounds that don’t even exist anymore (Daniel Schneemann, 33rd round, 2018).
Of the 16 players selected in day two of the MLB Draft by Cleveland yesterday, here are a few of the highlights that stood out for me.
1. Guardians take a big swing in round 7
The Guardians draft was going great and then the team announced the selection of RHP Savion Sims, a 6-foot-8 pitcher out of Prestonwood Christian High School. Sims ended up being the third-highest ranked player Cleveland drafted. MLB Pipeline had him ahead of the team’s third round pick Tre Broussard in its pre-draft rankings.
Besides being incredibly tall, Sims also possessed one of the most electric fastballs in the entire 2026 draft class, touching 100 mph at 19 years of age, which also goes against the grain for Cleveland picks as they almost always pick much younger high school or college players for their class. MLB Pipeline graded Sims’ fastball a 70, which is elite, but it appears everything else in his arsenal will need a lot of work. I’m excited to see what the pitching factory can do for him next season.
2. Guardians go large with senior signs
After selecting the 6-foot-8 Sims, who almost certainly is going to be a major overslot deal in the seventh round, Cleveland needed to save some money. The Guardians went with senior signs back-to-back-to-back in rounds 8-10 of the draft. Being a college senior means you lose all leverage because MLB teams can undercut you with their bonus offer after selecting you. You either accept the deal or don’t play for a whole other year.
Cleveland decided if it was going to go senior-heavy, it was going to go big. In the eighth round, they selected Matt Scott, a 6-foot-7 right-handed pitcher out of Georgia. Then in the ninth round, they selected Mario Pesca, a 6-foot-8 right-handed pitcher out of Oklahoma State. They came back to reality with senior right-handed pitcher Ryan Bilka out of Miami in round 10, but the savings from these three players should allow Cleveland to sign Sims. I also look forward to watching pick-up basketball games at the team’s training center this offseason.
3. Taking a chance on Lechance
With the team’s sixth round pick, the Guardians selected Oklahoma catcher Deiten Lachance. A native of Quebec, Lechance was a juco transfer to Oklahoma who put up massive power numbers in the second half of his 2026 season, going deep 18 times in his final 33 games while helping lead Oklahoma to a College World Series championship. Like several other draftees, Lechance is big (6-foot-5) and it appears he can stick at catcher with a cannon arm. Cleveland already has a lot of depth at catcher with its minor league system and Lechance should easily add to that.
4. Loading up on pitchers
It’s not a huge secret that Cleveland’s minor league system currently is loaded with elite position player prospects. The Guardians went position-player heavy with their top 10 rounds last season, which combined with some much-improved international signings in recent years has created a logjam of top talent at full-season ball. Despite the Guardians being known as a pitching factory, the team’s pitching depth needed a boost. They did just that, selecting 11 pitchers over the draft’s final 14 rounds.
5. Mr. Irrelevant the RPM machine
The Guardians selected bullpen arm Parker Coil with their final pick in the 20th round. He was actually drafted last year in the 16th round but didn’t sign with the Brewers while hoping to improve his draft stock. His loss was Cleveland’s gain, however. The thing I like most about him is the elite spin he’s able to put on the baseball. He has an elite amount of spin on his pitches with 2,700 RPM on his fastball and 3,000 RPM with his slider. He also has pretty good control. His main issue has been getting hit too hard, so if Cleveland can help him fix that, he could be an absolute steal.
6. A sleeper hitter and pitcher on day two
My sleeper hitter for day two for Cleveland is third base prospect Alejandro Garza, who Cleveland selected in the 15th round out of Cal Poly. Garza is undersized at 5-foot-9, but he possesses some of the best pure contact ability of the entire 2026 draft class. He basically averaged 1.5 hits per game in 2025 and 2026, collecting 92 and 91 hits in 62 and 63 games. He only hit one home run from 2023-2025, but improved his power to blast five this past season, so there might be some room for continued growth there.
My sleeper pitcher for Cleveland is a day two prep arm they took in the 16th round with Sebastian Rolon, an 18-year-old Puerto Rican out of Central Point Christian Academy. Rolon is an excellent athlete and is committed to play baseball at the University of Oregon, but if Cleveland can persuade him to sign, he is super intriguing. He’s currently listed as a shortstop/third baseman as well as a right-handed pitcher, so assuming Cleveland gets him to focus purely on pitching, there might be a lot to unlock there.
