The Cleveland Guardians targeted RHP Liam Peterson in the first round for a variety of reasons.
The Cleveland Guardians went back to their roots in the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft. After selecting position players with their first pick for the last four years, the Guardians select RHP Liam Peterson out of the University of Florida.
There were several other intriguing pitching prospects on the board when the Guardians were on the clock, and few mock drafts predicted Cleveland would select Peterson with their first pick.
With that in mind, what exactly stood out to the Guardians with the 21-year-old pitcher?
As Senior Vice President of Scouting, Paul Gillispie, explained after Day 1 of the draft, there are a couple of traits that made Peterson a great pick for the Guardians.
Starting with the pitching aspect itself, Gillispie noted that, “I think with Liam, it just, it really starts with the physical traits; size, delivery, arm action, all those things provide him a really good foundation. I think you look at the stuff that he has, just high spin, fastball, high spin, breaking options. And I think we've said an advanced changeup from him as well.”
According to Peterson’s scouting report, the right-hander has an elite fastball that already sits in the mid-90s and has occasionally reached triple digits. Because of the heater, Peterson had a strikeout rate of nearly 30 percent in his last collegiate season.
It’s not just the physical traits, though. Gillispie believes Peterson’s mindset makes him a great addition to Cleveland’s organization.
“I think the thing about Liam is, as I mentioned earlier, we've known him for a really long time from his days at Calvary Christian, where he was a top prospect as well. His mindset, his desire to get better, I think, fits really well in our organization. Just being a development-focused organization, we think he'll do quite well here.”
With Cleveland known for its pitching development program, Peterson has the chance to truly break out and become the top pitcher in the Guardians' rotation by the time he reaches the big leagues.
As Gillispie points out, Peterson has both the physical traits and mindset to do just that.
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