According to the most recent MLB.com prospect rankings, the Cleveland Guardians are still in a great spot. They aren’t as high as they were in 2024, when many considered them a top-five farm system in baseball, but according to MLB.com, they still rank ninth. Leading the way are Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter, Jaison Chourio, and a few others.
With an opportunity to only improve that in a few weeks during the MLB draft, MLB.com looked at who the Guardians could select. They landed on Josh Hammond, a third baseman out of North Carolina. With pick 27, the Guardians could go a few different ways and Hammond would be an intriguing selection.
“This could still be a landing spot for college hitters like Andrew Fischer or Conrad, but if things play out like this, they could look at high school bats instead, with Hammond being the best one still on the board,” they wrote.
Committed to Wake Forest, Hammond played his way up in the rankings with some big showings during multiple events. He has a fastball that runs up to 97 MPH, and is currently the 15th-ranked player in the nation. He has decent stuff as a hitter, too, but many view him as a pitcher at the highest level.
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Whether the Guardians view him as a third baseman or pitcher remains to be seen, but an arm that can reach up to 97 MPH is intriguing.
The Guardians could view him as a pair with Bazzana in the future, making this an intriguing option to consider. It could take a while, but they’d set themselves up even better for the future.
