FORT WORTH, Texas — The first two rounds of the 2024 MLB Draft concluded Sunday with the first 74 names being called out of a total of 615 picks at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Here are the seven biggest takeaways from the night:
Travis Bazzana took 1st place overall
In the end, the Cleveland Guardians got the best player.
The Australian second baseman from Oregon State University is an aggressive player with lightning-quick hands and a short lever that allows him to spin at high speed in the inner half of the strike zone. Built like a tank, Bazzana has the kind of razor-sharp hitting feel that data-driven teams love, and he was raised in Australia as a passionate, highly competitive, multi-sport kid.
Bazzana’s biggest weakness is his lack of defensive upside. He’s the first second baseman ever drafted with the No. 1 overall pick. In the end, Cleveland didn’t overthink it. Bazzana isn’t a generational No. 1 pick like Bryce Harper or Paul Skenes, but he should develop into an impactful big leaguer in the next few years. Mintz
Chase Barnes and Charlie Condon took second and third place.
With Bazzana out of the running, the consensus in the industry was that Cincinnati couldn’t pass up the opportunity to select Charlie Condon, the Golden Spikes Award winner out of the University of Georgia who was coming off a historic spring in which he led the nation in batting average and home runs. The Reds were looking to target a hitter and Condon was a high choice, but Colorado had the third pick and the Rockies were expected to be more intrigued by a top-tier pitcher in the draft class, given how rarely they acquire quality pitchers on the open market.
or not!
In the end, it was the Reds who took Wake Forest right-hander Chase Barnes with their first pick, suggesting that he was worth selecting over Condon and other talented college hitters, given his impressive arsenal and potential to be a first-line starter. That put Colorado in the unlikely position of selecting many people’s top pick with the third pick, leaving us all to dream about what a fully-fledged Condon could one day put up at Coors Field. The Reds’ bet on Barnes was a big one, and considering everyone was sure they would land where each other landed, the two players’ careers will likely be intertwined for a long time to come. Shusterman
Jack Cariannone drops out of the top five
The Royals picked up the draft’s most notable player, Caliannone, who rose to prominence as a dominant two-way player at the University of Florida. Although Caliannone was announced as a two-way player, he is expected to focus on hitting in the pros.
The Royals may think Caggs is a good pitcher, but Caggs’s huge potential as a hitter made him their top pick this year. He hit .419/.544/.875 with 35 big flies this year and led the Gators to their second straight College World Series appearance. His bat speed, barrel control and raw power are a rare combination, but his tendency to chase balls outside the zone is a big concern. The Royals will try Caggs in the outfield initially, but he may be limited to first base in the future.
But don’t get me wrong, this would be a major infusion of talent for a Kansas City farm system with little room for upside. Mintz
The Nationals won with three picks.
The Nationals were an intriguing team heading into the night after trading relief pitcher Hunter Harvey to Kansas City over the weekend for third baseman prospect Cayden Wallace and the 39th pick on Sunday. We’ve seen teams trade competitive balance picks (the only draft picks eligible for trades) a few times over the years, but it’s unusual for a deal to happen so close to draft day. That gave Washington an additional day one pick and more than $2 million in bonus pool money to distribute to the 2024 class.
So what did Washington do with their three picks on Day 1? With the 10th pick, the Nationals took Seaver King, a highly athletic right-handed hitter out of Wake Forest University. He was initially announced as a shortstop, but could eventually play third base or center field. If he can adjust his ultra-aggressive approach, his offensive potential is exciting. This is also true of Washington’s 39th pick, Caleb Lomavita. He’s a catcher out of the University of California who should thrive as a catcher and, when he’s in good form, is one of the most fun hitters to watch in his entire school year. Like King, walking isn’t necessarily Lomavita’s forte, and he’ll need to make some adjustments if he’s to stay relevant in professional baseball.
Finally, Washington rounded out its acquisitions on Sunday with Luke Dickerson, a high school shortstop out of New Jersey who garnered a lot of buzz over the spring and was one of the final players on my top 50 prospects list. This team certainly has some work to do on the player development side, but the pieces are definitely exciting. — Shusterman
Orioles stick to strategy
Baltimore again took position players with their first two picks, but the mix of college hitters is quite different. UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt, the 22nd overall pick, has a variety of skills, including great power and speed, but struck out a lot in college. University of Virginia shortstop Griff O’Ferrall (32nd) has limited power potential but is a contact merchant. If you average out their strikeout rates, they look average. And the front office, led by Mike Elias, has overseen the Orioles’ return to championship contention and has taken a position player with their first-round pick every year for the sixth time in the draft.
This suggests a very interesting strategy. The Birds already face a situation where they don’t have enough everyday roster spots for all of their prospects at the big league level, yet they continue to draft hitters. Why? The organization knows it does a better job of developing hitters than any other organization in baseball. And because of injury risk, talented pitching prospects are inherently less valuable than talented hitting prospects. But a proven big league pitcher can be acquired in exchange for a pack of hitting prospects, as the Orioles did this winter with Corbin Burnes to lead their starting rotation.
Given the team’s track record, Honeycutt and O’Ferrall have a good chance of developing into impact players whether they play for the Orioles or not. This team knows what it’s good at and sees no reason to stray from that path. Mintz
Kellon Lindsay breaks out with the Dodgers
For high school players, the draft process accelerates the summer before the season, when scouts begin to form opinions of high school players by watching them on the showcase circuit. The quality of play is so much higher that it’s a convenient environment to evaluate them in. This means that players who don’t participate in the showcase circuit for whatever reason are likely to be overlooked.
That’s exactly what happened with Lindsay. He didn’t play on the circuit last summer because of a minor leg injury. His absence, combined with his impressive high school quarterback resume, meant scouts didn’t know much about him until this spring, when sensational reports began to trickle in about the lightning-fast shortstop from rural Florida. Lindsay is an exceptional athlete who will need time to develop as a baseball player, but the Dodgers have a Trea Turner starter kit in their hands here. Mintz
Braves acquire two more talented left-handed pitchers
Six draft hopefuls were in attendance in Fort Worth on Sunday, but the order in which they were selected was completely unexpected. Most notably, absolutely no one would have expected the sixth and last player to have his name called in the first round to be Cam Caminiti, a left-handed high school pitcher from Arizona who was widely regarded as the best high school pitcher in his class and was projected to go between 10th and 15th in nearly every mock draft.
Instead, he fell to Atlanta, taking the 24th pick. While on the surface it may have been a disappointment, it appears to have been a blessing in disguise, as Caminiti joins an organization renowned for its ability to develop young pitchers. The team also boasts two of the best left-handed pitchers on the planet in Chris Sale and Max Fried, and Caminiti will no doubt be eager to meet them when he officially signs in the coming weeks.
Caminiti wasn’t the only promising left-handed pitcher the Braves acquired on Sunday. Atlanta also selected Vanderbilt’s Carter Holton in the second round. Holton was a talented pitcher who was a frequent first-round pick during his three years in Nashville, but an inconsistent junior year and some health questions led to him falling outside the first 30 picks. But 62nd overall? Holton might make that pick really good in the not-too-distant future. Shusterman
