2025 Cleveland Guardians Prospect Scouting Report: #8 1B Ralphy Velazquez

Can Ralphy Velazquez hit enough to get to his power?

Jun 02, 2025

Age (2025 season): 20
Acquired: 2023 Draft (1st Round)
2024 Level: High-A
Height: 6’3
Weight: 215
Bats: Left
Throws: Right

First Impression

Could he be the first or second most famous Ralphy from Cleveland? Looks the part of a power hitting corner bat. Bigger size for a catcher, if he were still a full time catcher (more on that later). A strong and thickly built hitter that has tools that Cleveland lacks in many other places in its system, easy plus raw power and enough patience to profile as a three true outcomes guy. Might not look the part, and you’re not watching him for defense, but you don’t need to hide his glove from him either. Big smile, hard worker and some of the best batting practice reps too.

What Makes Velazquez Fun

I could write about at least 10-15 different Cleveland position player prospects and copy/paste some grades and descriptions about them. Ralphy breaks the mold. His batting practice reps are loud and if you happen to be getting yourself some Biagio’s Donuts or El Palenque (as one should always do at the Corner of 91 & Vine), you could be in the hazard zone for a Ralphy ball. Scouts at the 2024 Futures Game noted his batting practice as maybe the most impressive. Easy plus raw power. I don’t think anyone in the system matches him there. There’s a good eye for zone as well. He will work the count and will take walks. Physically, he has the presence of a middle of the order hitter, which is also not typical for most Guardians position player prospects. Despite his big size, he’s not without athleticism. Velazquez played outfield in high school and some third base as well. In one of his ventures in the outfield in 2024, he robbed a home run at the wall and looked very natural doing so. That’s not to predict any awards coming his way with the glove, but at this point in time he’s not a guy who is stuck at 1B/DH. If he does catch, there’s great power for the position that will profile anywhere and he has enough arm strength behind the dish too.

What Could Stop Velazquez

He has shown the willingness to take a walk, but he does like to swing the bat too. So there’s a chance some of that is propped up by non-competitive low-level minor league pitching. His ability to make contact is possibly looking below average given how that played out in High-A. He’s going to need to work on a deep load in his swing if he’s going to make more contact without sacrificing power. He didn’t chase a ton in Lake County but the overall contact frequency for the level is something to watch. But let’s also remember he was 19 and it was his first full year of pro ball, one year removed from being in high school. His swing does have a tendency to get long, as what limited Velazquez’s power was being late on fastballs and often sending lazy fly balls to left field at times. He’s really not going to add much on the bases and you’re not really looking for him to add a ton of value on defense. The bat is going to have to do almost all of the work as a pro. The power is special enough to do it if he gets to enough of it. He does get the ball in the air enough but needs to get around faster to pull it and do real damage.

Key Metric

75.8% - Ralphy’s contact rate in High-A, which was actually up 2% from high Low-A figure. The average contact rate in the majors in 2024 was 76.8%. 75.8% would have ranked second to last among all qualified hitters in all of the majors. So giving him a 40 in the hit tool is part that he actually can impact the ball when he makes contact, and that I’ve seen enough so far that he might be patient enough to get a ball in the zone he can do damage with.

Intangibles

Velazquez was a bit of a late high school bloomer. He improved his physical conditioning and worked hard after feeling sort of slighted by not getting invited to some national high school invitationals despite his improvement. He’s plenty humble and there’s no questions about his work ethic. Comes from a great family. Not upset to move around positionally in 2024.

Future

A three true outcomes catcher is much more valuable than a 1B/LF where the pressure is all on the bat. Velazquez was held off of catching in 2024 due to a thumb injury. Cleveland isn’t ruling out keeping catching alive for him, for his benefit and for theirs, referencing the David Fry situation. But it doesn’t seem like there is an expectation of him going back behind the plate full time either. First base is probably the path forward for him and he can play some outfield and it’s probably a hitter you’re hoping to give you 25-30 homers and a bunch of walks. It’s a very Kyle Schwarber-esque profile. Like Schwarber, Ralphy is a very physical player that probably wants to maintain his current physique, and maybe get a little stronger, but not much bigger. It’s a little of pressure on the bat and his eye at the plate. There might be some Khris Davis, or Russell Branyan here too. Not a prospect that should be rushed through the system, especially if he’s spending any time behind the plate. But there’s potentially enough power/OBP here to profile as a fifth or sixth hitter in the lineup.

Role/Risk

45/Extreme - Three true outcomes 1B/LF that maybe is a third catcher with a high potential of not making enough contact to break through