Guardians of the Future Prospect Weekly: Francisca's Power Surge, LaViolette Jumps to Akron
By Michael Morgan ·
Five Bombs From the Kid Who Wasn't Supposed to Hit Them
Welbyn Francisca (A+, SS, Rank: 17) hit five home runs last week. Let that settle for a moment. The 20-year-old switch-hitter entered this season projected as a utility piece whose value would come from speed, contact, and defensive versatility, a 40 power grade attached to a diminutive frame that scouts weren't expecting to produce over-the-fence damage. He has 14 home runs in 195 plate appearances at Lake County, and over his last 30 days he's slashing .311/.398/.757 with nine homers in 88 PA. That is not a hot week inflating a mediocre season; that is a sustained stretch of power production that the scouting profile frankly did not anticipate. His combined line across A+ and rookie ball this year sits at .267/.371/.544 with 15 home runs through 54 games, and the surface-level improvements from his 2025 A-ball campaign (.229/.320/.302, three home runs in 428 PA) are staggering.
The honest read here is that the power surge is real enough to take seriously but carries questions about sustainability at higher levels. Francisca is a 55 hit tool with elite speed and contact feel from both sides, and those traits remain the foundation. The power spike may reflect a mechanical adjustment, a better understanding of his pull-side leverage, or simply a hitter who added functional strength in the offseason at an age when that can happen quickly. What it does not do is automatically rewrite his long-term projection; the 40 raw power grade is likely conservative at this point, but calling him a 50 or 55 power bat requires seeing it against better pitching first. Still, a 20-year-old A+ shortstop with a .757 slugging percentage over 30 days is not something you ignore, and I'd take the over on those power grades if he keeps this up into a Double-A assignment.
LaViolette Earns His Ticket to Akron, Then Answers Immediately
Jace LaViolette (AA, OF, Rank: 9) got promoted to Akron on August 11 and responded in his first Double-A action with a line that included a double, four walks, and a stolen base across six plate appearances. The promotion itself was earned: he batted .259/.394/.569 with five home runs and 12 walks over his last 30 days at Lake County, finding a patient approach to complement the plus raw power. His full A+ season comes in at .238/.342/.467 with 19 home runs in 388 PA, a profile that checks the power box while leaving the contact question very much open. He struck out 147 times in 394 combined plate appearances this year, which is the number that gets written in red at the top of every evaluation. The hit tool grades at 40, and nothing in the A+ numbers argues against that.
What makes LaViolette worth tracking closely at Akron is whether the approach improvements from late July and August carry over. The 55-grade walk rate and 60 competitiveness grade suggest a hitter who fights hard in counts and won't give away at-bats, and the plus power plays to all fields when the timing is right. A 55 arm and above-average corner defense give him a realistic shot at an everyday right field profile if the bat develops, and at 22 he has time. The first genuine test of whether his late-season gains against High-A pitching are real will come fast in Akron, where breaking ball quality takes a step and the margin for swing-and-miss shrinks. The week one walk rate is at least a good sign.
Quick Hits
- Nolan Schubart (AA, OF, Rank: 25) · drove in seven runs on seven hits, including three home runs, across 23 plate appearances, drawing five walks without making an out more than once per trip to the plate in that stretch. His Double-A numbers since joining Akron are now .338/.472/.606 with five home runs in 89 PA. The hit tool grades at 40 and the swing-and-miss is real, but a 60 power grade paired with a .472 on-base percentage at Double-A influences roster discussions. His combined line across A+ and AA sits at .263/.413/.540 with 25 home runs in 429 PA this season.
- Aaron Walton (AA, OF, Rank: 23) · had the most well-rounded week of any hitter in the system, going 9-for-28 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, and nine RBI, adding a walk and a hit-by-pitch against just three strikeouts. The contact numbers are a genuine surprise for a profile graded at 45 hit with documented swing-and-miss concerns. He's hitting .257/.432/.457 over his last 30 days in Double-A, and the combined season line across A+ and AA reads .272/.406/.495 with 17 home runs and 26 stolen bases in 463 PA. A 60 speed grade paired with 55 raw power is a useful combination even if the bat plays fringe-average; a week like this hints at a higher floor than the bench projection currently implies.
- Dean Curley (AA, SS, Rank: 15) · went 8-for-22 with a double and two home runs, knocking in six and drawing a walk in 22 plate appearances. His Double-A season average sits at .263/.364/.395 over 88 PA, a meaningful step down from his A+ production (.251/.454/.451 with 10 home runs in 329 PA), which was built significantly on walks. The strikeout rate at Double-A (31 in 88 PA) is worth watching for a 50 hit tool projection, and the defensive future at shortstop remains uncertain given a likely eventual move to third base.
- Ralphy Velazquez (AAA, 1B, Rank: 2) · homered three times and drove in four runs in 18 plate appearances, his Triple-A home run total now at 11 through 59 games. The power is delivering on the 55-grade projection and tracking toward the 25-to-30 annual homer ceiling, but the last-30-day average of .203 in Columbus is a contact-rate story that fits the ongoing hit tool concern. His combined season line across Double-A and Triple-A is .276/.366/.499 with 18 home runs, and he's still just 21 years old.
- Dauri Fernandez (A+, 2B, Rank: 16) · was promoted to Lake County on August 11 after posting a 51-steal season at Low-A Hill City, then went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI in his first A+ action. The steal total is the headliner: 51 thefts in 357 Low-A plate appearances from a 19-year-old switch-hitter who also hit .272/.346/.399 while making contact at an above-average rate. He's a 55 hit tool and 55 speed grade with a 40 power projection, so the profile runs on contact and athleticism rather than over-the-fence pop. The jump to A+ will clarify whether that hit tool holds against better velocity.
- Kahlil Watson (AAA, LF, Rank: 18) · drew three walks against one homer in 16 plate appearances, a modest counting line but one featuring the patience that has been the more encouraging part of his Triple-A season. He's hitting .266/.355/.422 over his last 30 days in Columbus, a functional line for a 60 speed, 55 field profile with 19 stolen bases in Triple-A this year. The MLB stint has been rougher (.239/.264/.341 in 91 PA), with the walk rate in Cleveland (3 BB in 91 PA) nowhere close to his Triple-A approach numbers, and that gap is the biggest thing standing between Watson and a useful big-league role.
- Austin Peterson (AAA, RHP, Rank: 34) · struck out six over four innings of two-run ball, his ERA over his last five outings dropping to 3.80 across 23.2 innings. The season-long number at Triple-A sits at 4.57 through 80.2 innings, not far from where he finished last year in Columbus (4.27 ERA). He's a 70 command grade who lives on precision rather than stuff, and the recent stretch suggests the adjustment period that plagued the first half of his Triple-A tenure may be stabilizing. As a 26-year-old with a back-end starter projection, the window for a big-league look is not wide, but his command profile gives him a legitimate shot as a depth piece.
- Caden Favors (AA, LHP, Rank: 24) · posted six innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts, and his last-30-day ERA has come down to 3.66 over 19.2 innings. The season number (5.29 ERA in 98.2 AA innings) still reflects a tough year for a pitcher whose profile depends on a 55-grade slider doing most of the heavy lifting against a below-average fastball. The recent form, 20 strikeouts and 5 walks over his last four starts, is at least pointing the right direction heading into the final weeks of the Double-A season.