Landon Thome is spending his mornings in a Chicago-area backyard batting cage with Jim Thome, turning a family routine into draft preparation as the 2026 MLB Draft approaches. The 18-year-old prospect is already viewed as a likely early-round pick, and the father who hit 612 home runs is now the one tossing pitches and talking him through each swing.
That is why the name Jim Thome is drawing attention now. He is a Hall of Famer, a five-time All-Star and one of the most recognizable power hitters of his era, and his son enters the draft ranked No. 33 in The Athletic's top-100 list of prospects. Landon is committed to Florida State, but his path to the next level is being shaped at home, where the lessons come from a man who spent 22 years in the majors and learned how to survive at the game’s highest level.
Landon said having his father as his hitting coach is “pretty awesome,” not just because of the résumé but because Jim notices details that most parents would miss. Jim said the arrangement is special, and that fathers throw batting practice to their sons and give advice. For Landon, that advice matters because evaluators see real power in his bat, with the kind of 25-homer potential that can play early in a professional career.
But the same swing that gives him that upside still has a flaw. He can be beaten when pitches climb into the upper third of the zone, which is the sort of hole that becomes harder to hide as pitchers get smarter and velocity gets better. That is why the work in the cage is not just nostalgic father-son time; it is targeted repetition, with Jim using the perspective of a former slugger to sharpen the parts of the swing that scouts will test first.
Landon’s baseball life has been shaped by elite instruction for years. He started going to Bracey Performance in Chicago as a freshman and later trained alongside Steven Kwan, Jake Cronenworth and Alex Bregman after Kyle Bracey invited him to join that group as a junior. He was 4 years old when his father finished playing, so the memories of Jim’s career were built more through stories and moments than daily reality, including a trip to Cooperstown, N.Y., for Jim Thome's induction in 2018, when Landon and Lila spoke with Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr. and other Hall of Famers.
The remaining question is not whether Landon has access to guidance. It is where in the 2026 MLB Draft he will land when the selections begin this weekend. With a top-100 ranking, a Florida State commitment and a Hall of Fame father in the cage beside him, he arrives with enough polish to draw early attention and enough uncertainty in the swing to keep teams watching closely.
