Guardians' No. 7 prospect fuels unbelievable rally with homer, career-high six RBIs at High-A
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The opposition came out swinging, but Jace LaViolette had a rather loud response to that.
Cleveland's No. 7 prospect homered and drove in a career-high six runs as High-A Lake County used LaViolette's offensive outburst to rally for 17 unanswered runs against Fort Wayne on Wednesday night at Parkview Field.
The 22-year-old reached base four times and infused his Captains' teammates with the fuel needed to overcome a six-run first-inning hole with his first long ball since May 24 and his first RBIs in five games.
LaViolette drove in his first run without even putting the ball in play, drawing a second-inning walk with the bases loaded to draw Lake County within two runs. But it was his third plate appearance two innings later that turned the tide of the game.
The Texas A&M product sat on a 1-0 pitch and clobbered a no-doubter to center field that easily cleared the 400-foot marker and turned a two-run deficit into a lead his club would not relinquish. LaViolette wasn't finished tormenting Fort Wayne pitching, doubling home two more runs in the eighth to help him snap out of a 1-for-21 stretch entering the game.
Selected 27th overall in last year's Draft, LaViolette found the early days of his pro debut difficult. The native of Pensacola, Florida, began 2026 hitless in his first 13 at-bats. The rocky start carried through much of April, which ended with his slash line of .197/.346/.379.
But April showers gave rise to increased offensive production in May for the lefty-swinging outfielder, who celebrated the flip of the calendar with a homer, one of five he hit during the month. LaViolette posted an .808 OPS and was a veritable run machine, driving in 21 and scoring 20 times in 21 games, thanks in large part to a torrid stretch from May 10-26 in which he batted .333 with nine extra-base knocks and hit safely in 10 of 12 games.
LaViolette's hot hitting earned him Midwest League Player of the Week honors for May 18-24, but that was only the appetizer.
The man known as "Lord Tubbington" since his college days, LaViolette was one of 32 players battling for the best moniker in the Minors during last month's Nickname Knockout. Given the playful name by his Texas A&M teammates because of his supposed resemblance to a Teletubby, the 6-foot-6, 230-pounder finished with the third-most votes.
The snub didn't seem to bother LaViolette, who appears to have found his footing at the plate and his ability to lead by example early in his career.