Angels 2026 third-round pick Gavin Grahovac swings through Rancho’s night with two homers, including one off Nick Pivetta

Gavin Grahovac is already making a case for the power label the Angels placed on him when they selected him in the 2026 MLB Draft. On Tuesday, Grahovac helped Single-A Rancho Cucamonga jump in front early by homering twice, with one of those drives coming off MLB veteran Nick Pivetta during Pivetta’s rehab appearance. It was the kind of on-field punctuation that organizations look for when they are trying to translate draft tools into consistent at-bats and, ultimately, bigger-stadium opportunities.

According to MLB’s Angels report, Grahovac came into the system with a notable power projection, including a 60-grade for raw power that tied him for the top spot among Angels prospects at the time. What stands out in the Tuesday performance is the speed at which that power showed up in game action, not just batting practice. Two home runs in one outing, and specifically a pair that included damage off a major-league-caliber arm working back from a stint away from the mound, gives the Angels a clearer look at how his bat plays against better quality pitching.

Rancho Cucamonga, a Single-A affiliate where young hitters often refine timing, approach, and pitch recognition, has become the stage for Grahovac’s first meaningful professional stretch. The report describes his early impact by noting that his home run off Pivetta put the Quakes in front. Even without additional scoring context, the key point for player development is that Grahovac’s power didn’t require an extended setup. It showed up quickly, in an environment designed to expose prospects to real baseball consequences.

Pivetta, who was rehabbing with the club, represents the type of opponent that can compress the usual learning curve for a developing hitter. Rehab assignments often bring hitters and pitchers together under unusual circumstances, and facing a returning starter can look different from a standard Single-A rotation. In this case, the Angels’ report frames Grahovac’s success directly around that matchup, highlighting it as a meaningful marker for the prospect’s ceiling.

Grahovac’s background includes college production, and the MLB write-up ties his current pro burst back to his collegiate profile as a former Texas A&M standout. That college link matters for context because it suggests the power is not purely a projection off amateur swings. Even so, the professional game is its own test, and the Angels are likely to keep evaluating the details around these blasts, including how often he finds the barrel and how reliably he performs once pitchers adjust.

For Rancho, performances like Tuesday’s can also reshape how the lineup is managed. When a young hitter begins to show that his home-run power can arrive off credible arms, it changes the way other teams pitch in-season, even at Single-A. The immediate development focus will be on translating standout moments into repeatable production, with the organization watching both contact quality and decision-making as the season continues.

The next thing to watch is whether Grahovac can build off the two-homer game or whether it becomes an isolated highlight. One multi-homer night can earn attention, but player development is about trend lines: how his swing decisions evolve, how he handles the pitch sequences that good teams start to throw at hitters with obvious power, and whether the Angels can keep his progression on a steady track as he moves through additional levels of the system. If the early report persists, this performance could turn into more than a viral-style stat line and start to look like the beginning of a sustained power run.