Keith Law’s latest list of impact prospects should give Guardians fans mixed feelings

The youth movement is here to stay for the Cleveland Guardians and isn’t going to be going anywhere any time soon. 

In fact, the Guardians projected starting lineup on Opening Day includes just three post-arbitration players in the form of Steven Kwan, José Ramírez and the newly-signed Rhys Hoskins. 

But not all of those young players are created equal. 

In fact, The Athletic’s Keith Law thinks that a couple of them are set to rise above the others when it comes to the 2026 season. 

Keith Law’s latest assessment of impact prospects should give Guardians fans mixed feelings 

Earlier this week Law published a new story outlining 20 prospects that he thinks could make the biggest impact in the 2026 season and had two Guardians on the list in Chase DeLauter and Parker Messick. 

DeLauter came in as the No. 6 prospect on the list, while Messick was the No. 13 prospect. Travis Bazzana was nowhere to be found. 

Law had a lot of good things to say about DeLauter, writing that he could be a Rookie of the Year front runner so long as he’s able to stay healthy. Injuries have been a huge part of DeLauter’s career journey so far, as he has yet to play in more than 60 games in any season since being drafted by the Guardians. 

DeLauter’s injury history popped up yesterday when he was a late scratch from the Guardians’ spring training lineup on Wednesday due to lower body soreness, but it seems like the injury won’t be anything too serious. 

But if DeLauter stays healthy, he should get plenty of opportunities to earn everyday playing time in a Guardians’ lineup that’s in serious need of offensive help. 

Meanwhile Messick was ranked as the No. 13 prospect, largely due to what he did last season. Law’s rankings are based primarily around prospects who could make an impact in 2026, not just pure prospect status. Messick had a great minor league season last year and impressed in his late season cameo with the Guardians last season. 

That impressed Law so much that he thinks Messick could end this season as the Guardians’ No. 3 starter thanks to the fact that he’s a pretty complete young starter as opposed to a more raw pitching prospect. 

But just because those two were included on the list doesn’t mean that Law’s list was all rosy when it came to the Guardians. The biggest downside of the list came in the form of Travis Bazzana being left off the list. 

While we don’t know if that omission was due to the fact that Law doesn’t think that Bazzana will get enough of a chance to make an impression in 2026 or that his season will go so poorly it won’t matter, his omission from the list speaks volumes. 

Earlier this offseason, Law wrote that Bazzana may “not be the impact player” that some are expecting, and it seems like he’s never been a fan of Bazzana’s contact-first approach. Bazzana will get his first chance to prove that assessment wrong during the World Baseball Classic, which could potentially serve as a springboard for a successful 2026.