Ranking the 2024 MLB Draft top-100 prospects: Condon on top, 3 Wake Forest players in Top 15 (2024)

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

3B

Position Player

4-Year College

2B

Position Player

4-Year College

1B

Position Player

4-Year College

2B

Position Player

Pitcher

4-Year College

OF

RHP

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Pitcher

4-Year College

LHP

Position Player

High School

SS

Position Player

High School

OF

SS

Position Player

Pitcher

4-Year College

1B

LHP

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

SS

Caldwell won’t go this high in the draft because he’s 5-foot-5 1/2; if he were 6-1, he’d be a top-15 pick for sure, with three tools that are or project to plus. He’s got a short swing (ha ha) and makes a ton of contact, with fringy power, and he’s a plus runner who covers enough ground in center to project to stay there, even with a 45 arm. The impact with the bat is the question — if you think he’ll hit the ball hard enough to keep his batting average up, he projects as a strong regular. If you don’t think he will, you’ll probably just run, run away.

Position Player

High School

OF

Yesavage has a super-short arm action but he makes it work, throwing a ton of strikes with his four-seamer and a nasty splitter that has both the typical heavy bottom of that pitch and some run that can make it look like a downward-breaking slider. He does throw an actual breaking ball but it’s a clear third pitch, with the splitter his go-to weapon for hitters on both sides of the plate. If you don’t mind or care about the short arm action, the question is whether he can be a successful major-league starter as a fastball/splitter guy. I think he can as long as he holds up.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Tibbs was undrafted out of high school and I think largely ignored until this year, when (as of the end of the regular season) he’s had more homers than strikeouts. He makes great swing decisions and his contact quality is strong, getting up over 110 mph for his maximum EV this spring after topping out at 105 last summer with wood. He’s limited to an outfield corner, though, so he has to rake.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Pitcher

4-Year College

BHP

Gillen is a 70 runner with a great, direct left-handed swing that’s perfect for an all-fields, high-contact approach like he showed last summer and fall. He can show above-average raw power in BP, but in games he’s a hitter for contact and average, which could be an area for development as he learns when to try to drive the ball and when to shorten up and put it in play. He’s played mostly shortstop but had labrum surgery as a sophom*ore and his arm may push him to second base or more likely centerfield, where his speed could make him a plus defender. He’s one of the best high school bats in this generally thin class, and if a team agrees with my projection for him in center he should be a top 20 pick.

Position Player

High School

SS

Brecht is a project as a pitcher with the upside to justify taking him in the first round despite his current flaws. He can hit 100 regularly as a starter and shows a plus slider that he throws more than the heater because he can land it more consistently and gets a ton of whiffs on it — 58 percent in the regular season, per data from Synergy Sports. He has a changeup but it’s both too straight and too firm right now. A former wide receiver, he’s extremely athletic and should be able to make some big adjustments, which he’ll need to do, starting with his loose but long arm action to get him a delivery he can repeat.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

For pure tools, Jordan rivals anyone in the class, high school or college. He’s a 70 runner with 80 raw power, 80 bat speed, and a 60 arm at worst. He misses in zone too often and will expand to chase breaking stuff down and away, while his speed and athleticism haven’t translated into even 55 outfield defense. He finished the regular season with 71 strikeouts and a 28 percent K rate.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Benge is also a tremendous athlete who has pitched a little in relief for the Cowboys, with his pro future in the batter’s box because he has great bat speed, makes excellent swing decisions, and produces hard contact. His swing is slappy, though, and he meets the ball out front too often, with relatively low launch angles as a result, making him a great target for a team that has had success helping guys who can really hit turn that into more line-drive contact.

Position Player

Pitcher

4-Year College

OF

Smith reworked his swing and his body last offseason, bouncing back from a .258/.326/.517 line as a 20-year-old freshman at FSU to a .400/.484/.668 line entering the conference tournament, improving in every possible way as a hitter. He’s played third base in Tallahassee but scouts think he ends up at first or perhaps in an outfield corner.

Position Player

4-Year College

3B

Waldschmidt has emerged as one of the better pure hitters in the college class this year, his second at Kentucky after transferring from Charleston Southern, hitting .370/.500/.653. I think there’s even more power to unlock here. He starts with a very wide base and no stride, limiting how much he can transfer his weight, yet he still rotates his hips well enough to drive the ball now with composite bats. He rarely misses fastballs (13 percent whiff rate during the regular season) and doesn’t chase much regardless of pitch type. He’s a solid athlete who should be an above-average defender in a corner, playing left for Kentucky this year. Even as-is he’s a first-rounder because of the feel to hit, with that opportunity for more power if he loosens up his stance and uses his lower half more.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Tommy Tanks had his worst year at the plate this spring, hitting for a little less power and average in a year when power numbers especially are up across Division I. That dip in power has come in large part because pitchers have learned he’ll expand the zone and pitched to him accordingly. It’s hard contact and 70 power, if you think you can get him to cut down on the chase. Defensively, he’s possibly at third base with first base more likely,

Position Player

4-Year College

3B

Stovall finally got healthy a few weeks into this spring and had his best year at the plate since getting to Fayetteville, showing a solid approach at the plate with an outstanding swing and excellent pitch recognition. He could stand to walk more but doesn’t chase excessively. He’s a 45 defender at second, so this is a bet on the swing and hit tool.

Position Player

4-Year College

2B

Nobody wants to miss on the next Trea Turner, and Lindsey looks the part — it’s a similar build, 80 speed, good hands, a good right-handed swing, etc. Turner had three years of success in the ACC, however, while Lindsey has faced some weak competition in central Florida and has had issues with breaking stuff. He’s a huge upside play with a ton of downside risk.

Position Player

High School

SS

OF

Janek has emerged as the top catcher in the class, which may be damning with faint praise but also reflects the fact that he’s mashed and has shown he can stick behind the plate. He has the hands and the arm strength to catch, needing typical work on receiving and throwing mechanics, offering the upside of a 20-homer bat at a position where offense is scarce.

Position Player

4-Year College

C

Moore is going to end up with a team that values batted-ball data over performance — he’s had terrible luck at the plate this spring but he’s not punching out and his contact quality points to a higher average than he’s had on balls in play. He’s a below-average defender right now and scouts are mixed on whether he can stay at catcher; the arm is the worst tool here and his other deficiencies could improve with different coaching.

Position Player

4-Year College

C

Culpepper has one of the best swings in the class, and if he can just deploy it a little less often, he’s going to be a strong regular. He’s shown he can stay at shortstop, and can cut down on his swing enough with two strikes to keep his strikeout rate low even with too much chasing out of the zone earlier in the count. He projects to average power and is an average runner.

Position Player

4-Year College

SS

3B

Johnson has emerged as this year’s Colt Emerson, a high school infielder whose hit tool is his strongest attribute — and with Emerson’s tremendous start in pro ball, everyone’s looking for this year’s version. Johnson hit very well against better competition in the summer and fall but hasn’t been quite as good this spring in Alabama. He’s a shortstop now but more likely to end up at second or third.

Position Player

High School

SS

The cousin of the late Padres star Ken Caminiti, Cam is the top high school pitcher on the board, having reclassified from 2025 into this year’s weaker overall class. He’s up to 97 with a curveball that’s gone from a 35 early in the spring to a 50 or 55 now, and he’s super athletic with a solid delivery that’s really online to the plate. As high school pitchers go, he’s got the best combination of present ability and future projection.

Pitcher

Position Player

High School

LHP

OF

Schmidt is committed to the local university, I forget the name of it, and I doubt it’ll be easy to pry him away, but he’s the top prep right-hander in the class and should get first-round money as a result. He’s got a 70 curveball and 60 changeup, with a fastball that’s hard but straight, offering projection and an athletic delivery that should indicate room for him to make some adjustments. If you think you can fix the fastball, he might end up with three grade-70 offerings, and there aren’t many of those players in any draft.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Sloan has hit 100 mph this spring with a plus slider, with an athletic and strong 6-4 frame that should allow him to maintain plus velocity deep into games. It’s a powerful delivery where he’s on time and online to the plate, pitching better to his arm side than his glove side.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Mayfield is 93-98 with an above-average slider and good feel for a changeup, with surprisingly low effort for that kind of arm strength. He also gets good ride on the four-seamer and repeats his delivery well enough to project future above-average command. If he were a college pitcher, he’d be a top-10 pick in this class.

Pitcher

High School

LHP

Bazzell is one of the best contact hitters in the draft, with just a 10 percent strikeout rate and 11 percent whiff rate going into the conference tournaments. He doesn’t walk and he has 45 power, so it’s sort of an empty batting average and he’s seen that dip a little this year to .312 (from .353 the last two years), although he had mono earlier in the spring and that could easily have impacted his performance. He’s played mostly catcher this year and is a work in progress, maybe a 45 defender now or a strong 40 but offering enough present skill that you can envision him getting to average. The bat plays a lot better back there than at third, of course.

Position Player

4-Year College

C

3B

Lewis has raced up boards this spring as one of the few true shortstops in the class, offering plus bat speed and a ton of athleticism, with tools over skills right now. He can show big power at times and is a plus runner, while his swing can get grooved and there’s some concern about his pitch recognition. He’s a true shortstop who has some real power/speed upside.

Position Player

High School

SS

Sanford seems like a real sleeper in this class, in part because his season ended early when his high school missed the playoffs. He’s a plus defender at short with plus speed, while at the plate he rarely misses fastballs and shows good strike zone awareness. He has plenty of bat speed and gets the bat to the zone on time, with a modest hand load back and slightly up so that he can lift the ball a little in his finish. He needs to add a lot of strength and appears to have room for it on his 6-1 frame. There are so few shortstops in this class that he seems like someone who could even sneak into the first round.

Position Player

High School

SS

Morlando has raw power, but hits with the widest stance at the plate that you have ever seen, with no stride or toe-tap or anything to get his lower half moving, so he isn’t showing the same power in games and it’s hard to see him profiling in left field, where he’s limited by a 40 arm. He’s the most obvious swing-change candidate in the draft; if someone signs him away from his commitment to South Carolina, the first thing they’ll do is unglue his feet from where they are in the batter’s box.

Position Player

High School

OF

Moore has led a loaded Tennessee squad that could see four to six players drafted on Day 1, with five hitters clubbing 16 or more homers by the end of the regular season. Moore went on a huge tear to finish the regular season, with six homers in his last seven games, and has shown power against pretty much all pitch types. It’s not a pretty swing with a super-wide setup and no stride, which makes me question whether the power will hold up with a wood bat, and in my in-person looks he struggled to pick up offspeed stuff. He’s a fringy defender at best at second and could end up in left field. The performance is going to push him into the first round.

Position Player

4-Year College

2B

Hall has a great delivery and projectable body, sitting 90-94 now and touching 97 with a plus slider. He’s young for the class, turning 18 in November, with a lot of room to fill out his 6-3 frame, and already has good feel to spin two breaking balls, with the slider sharper and likely to end up close to 90 mph when he’s at his peak. He comes from a three-quarters slot and is mostly online to the plate with an occasional habit of landing early to cut himself off, albeit not on every pitch. He’s very much the classic high school projection arm, the sort of teenaged pitcher teams used to take regularly and develop over four-to-five years before everybody threw 98.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Hill is a 6-5, projectable lefty who shows average velocity now but should easily get to the mid-90s in time, with feel to spin two different breaking balls, excellent tumble to his changeup, and a delivery he should repeat enough for strikes. He’s committed to Dallas Baptist but should be one of the first high school lefties off the board.

Pitcher

High School

LHP

Honeycutt is a 70 defender with 70 power, but even with a midseason swing change to raise his hands he’s still striking out too often — even whiffing in-zone — to be a first-rounder for me. He’s a project for player development who has huge upside because of those two plus tools.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Shields is another reclassifier from 2025 — I guess agents saw the ’24 class was weak and encouraged their older high school clients to jump forward a year — and may benefit from the industry panic over UCL tears because he’s got a very easy delivery and is more of a command/projection guy than a now-stuff guy. (That’s not to say the panic over UCL tears is wrong; more like, what took you so long?) He’s a former quarterback and a Miami commit who has a very easy arm action, working low-90s with projection left and feel to spin a curveball already. He cuts himself off when he lands and doesn’t get the extension he should from his 6-2 frame, something I would expect a pro team to try to address, and that would help his stuff play up. He missed some time earlier this spring due to mono but bounced back quickly when he returned to the mound.

Pitcher

High School

LHP

Lomavita can catch and throw well enough that he’s going to remain behind the plate, with solid contact skills despite an unusual approach. I think he has the lowest walk rate of anyone on this ranking, however, at 4.5 percent, and while we aren’t selling jeans here, that’s an alarming figure that lines up with his chase rate of 38 percent. If you can’t tell a ball from a strike, we have some problems.

Position Player

4-Year College

C

Burke’s got great feel for the barrel with power to all fields. He has a pretty and direct swing that produces hard contact, and he does have an idea at the plate that you might not sense from his walk rate (8.7 percent). He goes after a lot of pitches just off the zone, but not pitches well out of the zone, so his overall chase rate — which treats those two things as equal — is misleading. Of greater concern is that he’s probably a DH, or at least someone who will need a lot of attention from coaches to improve his defense. The bat will profile at either spot but he’ll have a harder time being more than a regular if he’s DHing.

Position Player

4-Year College

1B

Tolle transferred to TCU from Wichita State this year and ranks in the top 10 in Division I in strikeouts as of the end of the regular season, working with an above-average fastball that can touch 96 and that plays up due to the huge extension in his delivery. He’s 6-7 and finishes way out over his front side, so left-handers must think the ball is coming from behind their right ears. The delivery is a little cross-body, and he doesn’t have a plus pitch, throwing the fastball three-fourths of the time and letting the deception do its thing. You can send him out as a starter but he has to develop a viable second pitch to stay there.

Pitcher

4-Year College

LHP

DeBarge has exploded at the plate this year, hitting 20 homers for the Cajuns after hitting 10 total in his first two years there, although with the wood bat he’s likely to be more of a hitter for a high average with a lot of doubles. He’s got the hands for shortstop but his arm is a little short for the left side of the infield and he probably profiles best at second base. The potential is here for a 60 hit tool. I like it.

Position Player

4-Year College

SS

Santucci has first-round stuff, but he missed the last half of the 2023 spring with a fractured elbow and has had control issues throughout his time at Duke, including a 14 percent walk rate this spring. He throws 92-95 and typically shows a plus slider and above-average changeup, although he barely uses the latter pitch. When I caught him against Wake Forest in March, he didn’t have any feel for the slider. His draft status is probably more a function of what teams see in his medical reports than what the scouts and analysts say.

Pitcher

4-Year College

LHP

An LSU commit, Bateman can hold 93-95 deep into starts and flashes a 60 slider with hard, sharp tilt to the pitch. He comes from a high three-quarters slot but his lower half isn’t always synced up with his upper half, so he’s inconsistent with his fastball command and can end up pitching more east-west than someone with that delivery should. He has starter ingredients if he improves the command and develops his changeup.

Pitcher

High School

LHP

Terrell did very little last summer as his family was moving, so he’s been a pop-up guy this spring. His plus-plus power has had scouts racing into Alabama to see him. He has excellent bat speed and loose hands, with some ability to adjust to change speeds, although he’s definitely hunting for fastballs to demolish. He’s a fringy runner with an average arm who probably ends up in left field.

Position Player

High School

OF

Dreiling makes excellent swing decisions and hits the ball hard enough for 55 power and what should be strong averages on contact, making up for his lack of speed or bigger power. He’s got a big stride to get more power from his lower half, so there could be an adjustment coming, as he’ll show power to almost all fields, but his hands can lag a little so his swing may not be as efficient as it could be. He’s a disciplined hitter who led the Vols in walks in the regular season. He’s a corner outfielder, probably staying in right.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Anderson was a catcher in just eight games over his first two seasons in Charlottesville, all of those in 2022, but he caught about half of UVA’s games in the regular season this year. He’s shown above-average power in the past, but the Cavaliers’ hitting malaise this year seems to have infected him, as he’s made a lot of weaker contact and put the ball on the ground too often. He’s a 40 defender behind the plate now and lost his job to fifth-year player Jacob Ference, who transferred in from Division III Salisbury.

Position Player

4-Year College

C

1B

Bonemer has probably hit (or not hit) his way out of the first round, with a rough showing in a spring break trip to Florida and enough questions about his ever-changing swing that could result in him even ending up at UVA. He does have plus power when he gets to it and is an above-average runner who definitely stays on the dirt.

Position Player

High School

SS

3B

Jones has enormous raw power, perhaps the best in the college group after Jac Caglianone, so he could still end up going in the top 60-70 picks even as a straight first baseman whose strikeout rate is up at 25 percent. He’s just barely eligible for the draft by age as he turns 21 on Aug. 1.

Position Player

4-Year College

1B

That Volunteers lineup is just loaded, with Tears being one of five Vols bats likely to be drafted in the top three rounds. He might be the least disciplined hitter of the bunch, which could easily be a function of his inexperience (he had just 66 PA last year), but he makes up for it with plus raw power when he gets the ball in the air. He’s mostly played right field for Tennessee and is an average to tick-above runner who should at least get a shot in center, with right field the more likely long-term spot.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Hess might be a starter at the next level, with the delivery and arsenal to do so, if he can hold his stuff deeper into games. The Tide only had him get more than 16 outs twice during the regular season, in his last two starts, when he did actually hold his velocity extremely well, still hitting 94-95 later in the outings. He’s mostly fastball-slider-curve, with an occasional changeup to lefties, and he’s added a two-seamer to the mix after going heavy four-seam earlier in the season. You can easily dream on him as a mid-rotation, workhorse starter, if you can get past the limited track record.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Amick has had a huge year for Tennessee but he’s more power than hit, with poor offspeed recognition and a huge tendency to chase stuff out of the zone, especially with two strikes. Amick transferred to Knoxville from Clemson and has played third base for the Vols, where he’s a fringy defender.

Position Player

4-Year College

3B

Dickerson has come on later this spring in a draft that is still very light on high school hitters up the middle, showing a strong right-handed swing with nascent power. He has a chance to stay somewhere up the middle, more likely at second than in center. He’s committed to Virginia.

Position Player

High School

2B

OF

Doughty is a 6-foot right-hander with a solid delivery and an above-average 12/6 curveball with high spin that could end up a real out-pitch for him. The Oklahoma State commit takes a long stride towards the plate and has a compact but not overly short arm swing, getting good two-seam tail on his low to mid-90s fastball. If he were 6-4 and had more of a changeup for a fourth pitch, he’d get more consideration in the back of the first round.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Gatwood has been up to 98 in the last year, with the jump in velocity showing up last August at East Coast Pro Showcase, but he’s missed much of this spring with a lat strain and a broken hand. His breaking ball and changeup are both works in progress, so his value is in his size, arm strength, and loose delivery.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Cozart is a power-hitting catcher with enough swing-and-miss against offspeed stuff to project as a low-OBP, 20-homer type who could still end up a regular behind the plate. He does have power the other way but tries to pull the ball and his swing gets long as a result.

Position Player

4-Year College

C

Holman has struck out a third of the batters he’s faced this year despite less than overpowering stuff. He’s 91-94 with a 55 slider and 55ish curveball, seeing his stuff play up because he has a deceptive delivery with an extremely short arm action. He had a longer arm stroke last spring at Alabama, and threw nearly 2 mph harder, so there’s some thought that whoever takes him could try to restore the old delivery and get a free velocity bump without the loss of any other stuff. It would also probably help him throw more strikes and stay healthy, too.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Jump’s stats and pitch data make him look like a first-rounder, but the delivery is really rough and the odds of him sticking as a starter are low. He’s a 6-foot-nothin’ lefty with a very, very short arm action and abrupt movements within the delivery that make it hard for him to repeat it and look like they put more stress on his arm. He already had Tommy John surgery after his freshman year at UCLA, transferring to LSU in the interim, where he’s had an excellent season in the Tigers’ rotation, including just 19 walks in 66 2/3 innings (7 percent BB%). There are teams willing to ignore delivery questions to take a guy with strong pitch characteristics in the first round or close to it; I think those questions are enough to make Jump a second-rounder.

Pitcher

4-Year College

LHP

Vanderbilt seems to find a guy like this in their own bullpen every year, converting a reliever back to the rotation and ending up with a top draft prospect. This year it’s Cunningham, a tall right-hander who made four starts and 14 relief appearances in 2023 and has emerged as the Commodores’ best starter this season. He’s 94-97 with the four-seamer, and he has a plus changeup that has excellent fading life when he gets on top of it, along with a fringy slider in the mid-80s that doesn’t have a ton of break or sharpness. He has a starter’s look and delivery but may need to try a two-seamer, as his four-seamer has led to too much hard contact (including nine of the 14 homers he’s allowed in the regular season), and could use a better breaking ball.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

O’Ferrall might have ended up in the first round if he’d stuck with his swing and approach from 2023, when he hit .396/.453/.495 for the Hoos while playing strong defense at short. Instead, he’s tried to get all launch angle-happy and pull the ball for more power, instead of using the whole field, losing 87 points off his OBP for the sake of three extra home runs (in a year when homers are up all over the place). He can still play above-average defense and at least still makes contact at a high rate, so there’s at a minimum some floor here for a team that takes him and tries to restore his old swing.

Position Player

4-Year College

SS

DeMartini has power and can stay somewhere on the dirt, although his arm hasn’t come all the way back from an offseason shoulder injury. He’s power-over-hit, with too much swing-and-miss in the zone to project to an average hit tool, although he does have better ball-strike recognition than pitch recognition.

Position Player

4-Year College

3B

Whitney is indeed from Idaho, a state that has produced only three major leaguers who were drafted out of its high schools (Josh Phelps, Matt Brown and Mike Garman) and that has no Division I baseball programs. Whitney, an Oregon State commit, is an extremely projectable 6-5 right-hander who works in the low 90s, coming from a high slot, with a 12/6 curveball and a straight changeup. Scouts have noted his advanced control for his age, although the arm slot will make it hard for him to work east-west. It’s projection, feel, and strikes, with a good enough mix to start.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Hartle came into the spring as a near-certain first-rounder, but he stumbled to a 5.58 ERA through the regular season with 13 homers allowed in 69 1/3 innings. He’s a finesse lefty who works with five pitches, with his changeup his best offering and his cutter suddenly his most-used one. The cutter has become less effective the more he’s used it, unfortunately, and while his slider and curveball can both miss bats, neither is that effective in the zone, often catching too much of the heart of the zone. He’s a buy-low candidate after he struck out a third of the batters he faced as a sophom*ore with a lower walk rate than he had this year. It may be a matter of adjusting his pitch mix rather than anything major.

Pitcher

4-Year College

LHP

Sirota’s spring was a disaster, as he didn’t hit at all in the first half of the season and has looked like a completely different player than the dynamic hitter and centerfielder scouts saw in the summer and fall. He did finish the regular season very strongly, hitting .355/.542/.711 over the season’s final five weeks (21 games), which is an arbitrary endpoint other than it’s after I saw him play absolutely awfully at Towson. Maybe he was dealing with a minor injury or some other obstacle, as before he’d shown excellent bat speed, good feel for the strike zone, plus run, and the ability to play center, enough to predict him going in the top half of the first round before the year began. I imagine the strong finish will get him into the second round as someone hopes they’re actually drafting the 2023 version.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Kuhns came into the year in the top group of high school arms in the class, but his stuff tapered off late in the spring and he is probably out of consideration that high in the draft. He’s a four-pitch guy who has been up to 95-96, with plenty of projection in the body, but he was more 90-92 at the end of the season. His split-change has big fading action to it and he gets some sharp two-plane break on the curveball. There’s effort to the delivery including a head-whack at release. He’s committed to Tennessee, and if he ends up there he’ll be a strong bet to see the first round in 2027 if he stays healthy.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Nori will turn 20 in October, so he’s very old for a high school prospect and would be draft-eligible again in 2026 if he ends up at Mississippi State. He’s an 80 runner with some feel to hit and plus defense already in center, maybe trending towards 70. He has bat speed and the strength to get to average power, although models are going to downgrade his production because of his age and the weak competition he’s facing in Michigan.

Position Player

High School

OF

Flores is a draft-eligible sophom*ore who turns 21 in late July. He’s exploded for 17 homers in the regular season for the Longhorns after hitting just four in about half a season of playing time last year. He’s a true shortstop who should stay there and be at least an average defender, so he doesn’t have to hit a ton to be a regular. He chases way too often, leading to a low walk rate and a strikeout rate that’s three times higher, so he projects as a sub-.300 OBP guy unless he starts to lay off pitches, especially breaking stuff, out of the zone.

Position Player

4-Year College

SS

Dix had surgery on the labrum in his throwing shoulder in the fall, so he started this spring out as a DH and hasn’t regained all of his arm strength, but that might spell an opportunity for a team to nab a polished switch-hitting shortstop prospect at a lower spot than expected. Dix has a balanced swing with good bat speed, more fluid from the left side, and he projects to average power. As long as his arm bounces back enough, he’ll stick at shortstop and should be at least an above-average defender there. Had he been healthy all spring, the narrative around him might have been a lot different and he could have been in the Tyson Lewis/Wyatt Sanford group as high school shortstops with some upside with the bat.

Position Player

High School

SS

Burkholder has a great rotational swing that should generate plus power when he finally fills out, although he hasn’t shown much of it yet and had some trouble with non-fastballs at showcases last summer. He’s a 70 runner who can definitely stay in center, so even just boosting his contact rate will give him significant value. He hurt a calf muscle late in his spring and missed several games just as the weather was (sort of) turning nice, however, so it’s possible some teams didn’t get him cross-checked or otherwise seen enough to take him where the WVU commit would need to go.

Position Player

High School

OF

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Holton has missed plenty of bats this year, posting the best strikeout rate of his career (32.3 percent through the regular season), but everything else trended south, as he gave up more hard contact and saw his ERA soar over 5. His changeup is his best pitch and led him to a significant reverse platoon split, although he has two breaking balls and misses plenty of left-handers’ bats with them. His final regular-season outing lasted just 1/3 of an inning and he struggled to get over 90 mph after he’d been 92-94 for the rest of the season, even the week prior. Assuming there’s nothing serious here, he’s a potential back-end starter with his pitch mix and prior history of success.

Pitcher

4-Year College

LHP

Meccage is 92-97 with a high-effort delivery and can really spin two breaking balls, overpowering New Jersey prep hitters with his stuff. In the outing I saw, he went four innings and didn’t allow a ball in play. It’s 40 command right now because he’s amping up to throw as hard as he can, hiding his athleticism and the potential that he could be more of a pitcher than a thrower if he works more at 92-94 and uses the breaking stuff more. He’s committed to Virginia but should never set foot on campus except as a tourist.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Beam is a four-pitch command right-hander with nothing plus but who throws a ton of strikes and can be effective as long as he has all of his pitches. I saw him struggle against Georgia because his changeup was much too firm that night. He’s 92-95 with his four-seamer and pounds the zone with it, and because it rides up it plays off the changeup and vice versa. He’s got an average curveball and a 55 cutter that may end up his best pitch in the long run. He’s also got a little more room to fill out and could find another gear of velocity on the four-seamer and the cutter. He’s a back-end starter type with a modest chance for something more.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Johnson is a huge strike-thrower, literally, as he’s 6-6 and has walked just 12 batters this year (3.3 percent), even improving on his above-average walk rate from last year of 6 percent, while finishing the regular season ranking third in Division I in strikeouts behind only Chase Burns and Hagen Smith. He does it with breaking stuff, throwing his slider nearly half of the time and his 92-95 mph fastball for only 30 percent of his pitches, with the slider and cutter missing a ton of bats. The delivery is insane, though, as he doesn’t even pause after bringing his glove over his head and just flings the ball at the plate — it’s so hard to reconcile what you see from watching him pitch with what you see on the stat sheet. It’s a low three-quarters slot and almost everything he throws breaks to his glove side, so left-handed hitters do give him some trouble and he only seems to pitch east-west. The results might get him into Day 1, even with the clear reliever risk from his delivery.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Payne doesn’t turn 18 until mid-August, so he’ll be a darling of analytical models — if you wanted to take a random stab at a player Cleveland could target for an over-slot deal with their second or third pick, he’d be a good guess — and does offer plus-plus speed. He’s underdeveloped physically and his swing is geared towards contact, putting the ball on the ground most of the time, which can work with his speed as long as he can at least show some ability to drive the ball to the gaps. He’s committed to Houston and could end up a first-rounder if he goes there and packs on some strength.

Position Player

High School

OF

Mobley was up to 99 early in the spring and can flash that velocity but not hold it, with plenty of projection left to foresee him working consistently in the mid- to upper-90s when he’s older and more filled out. He’s 6-6 but has a low three-quarters slot, kind of Eury Pérez-ish, so he pitches very east-west with his fastball and struggles to command his curveball, since that’s a slider slot. He’s a project with real arm strength and a great body for a starter.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Thomas is draft-eligible as a sophom*ore, as he’ll turn 21 two weeks before the draft. He took a big step forward this year by starting his hands a little lower so he’s able to square the ball up way more consistently. He went from a 48 percent groundball rate as a freshman to a 35 percent groundball rate this spring, but the tradeoff is that he’s swinging and missing more in and out of the zone. He’s an above-average runner who’s played center, left, and first base for the Horns, probably starting out up the middle.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

1B

Oakie is just getting started as the Iowa high school season runs over the summer rather than in the spring, so his spot on the board is more volatile than those of most of the other players here. The Iowa commit is a 6-foot right-hander who’s 92-95 with a plus slider, coming from a low three-quarters slot that puts some sink on the fastball and more horizontal movement to the breaker. It’s not a great delivery and he has to show he can turn over a changeup from down there or find another pitch for lefties.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Larson is a loose-armed, projectable lefty who transferred to IMG this year from a high school in Iowa. He works 92-94 with a very sharp slider that plays up from his low three-quarters slot. He’s online to the plate but his front foot lands askew and he can spin off that front heel, inhibiting his command especially to his glove side. He’s committed to TCU.

Pitcher

High School

LHP

Marsten is a sinker/slider guy who missed the 2021 and 2022 seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he’s now 19 so he’d be draft-eligible in 2026 if he goes to Wake Forest. He’s 91-94 with good sink and an above-average slider, projecting more as a groundball pitcher with control than a power pitcher who’ll miss a ton of bats.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Didawick led the Cavaliers with 22 homers and was second only to fifth-year catcher Jacob Ference in slugging at .679. Didawick’s power was unsurprising as he’s one of the top exit-velocity guys in Division I, regularly topping 105 mph. It’s all-fields power and he is willing to go the other way, but he’s vulnerable to offspeed stuff, especially changeups down and/or away, leading to a 27 percent strikeout rate in conference play. He’s primarily played left for the Hoos, so he has to hit and hit for power. He’ll be a nice third-round pick for a team that considers batted-ball data very heavily in its model.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

The younger brother of Reds infielder Matt McLain, Nick wasn’t anywhere near the same kind of prospect coming out of high school (when Matt was a first-rounder), but he’s exploded this year to hit .346/.462/.676 with more walks than strikeouts as the Sun Devils’ primary right fielder. He redshirted his freshman year and missed the first half of his sophom*ore year with a hand injury, so this is the first time we’ve seen him fully healthy since at least high school. He hasn’t seen much high-end velocity and he does expand a little to chase breaking stuff, performing against what he saw in the Pac 12. He’s probably an extra outfielder but plays very hard and with a ton of confidence, so he’ll likely get the most out of his tools.

Position Player

4-Year College

OF

Shepardson is one of two Colorado high school pitchers we could see drafted in the first three-to-five rounds. He works 92-95 with a 55 slider in the low 80s, throwing both pitches for strikes. He’s 6-1 and only slightly projectable, but he repeats his delivery very well and should be able to start. He’s committed to the University of San Francisco, where his brother, Blake, is a junior reliever who throws 95-100.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Silva had some first-round buzz coming into the spring, but he hit just .261/.364/.386 during the regular season and saw his strikeout rate jump because he took far more called strikes this year than in 2023. He’s a true shortstop who was more of a 55 defender last spring and closer to average this year, although there’s no physical reason here why he can’t be an above-average defender again. There is some good news buried in here — he didn’t chase or whiff excessively, and his contact quality is still good enough to see him hitting for average with doubles power. He’s sophom*ore-eligible and offers a utility infielder floor if he’s willing to sign.

Position Player

4-Year College

SS

Shull is a switch-hitting corner outfielder and Oklahoma State commit who has excellent bat speed batting left-handed, projecting to hit for average and power, with a slower and slightly more mechanical-looking swing right-handed. He’s an average runner and probably just goes right to a corner outfield spot in pro ball. He’ll also turn 19 the day of the draft, which will hurt him with teams that weigh age heavily in their draft models. He makes pretty hard contact, though, which could make him an over-slot target even though he’s going to end up in left or right field.

Position Player

High School

OF

The University of Portland could see two pitchers drafted in the top-10 rounds between Stuhr and redshirt junior Nick Brink, who finished the regular season with the seventh-most strikeouts in Division I. Stuhr is the better pro prospect, as he’s a year younger and has better stuff, working 94-96 with a short but effective slider in the upper 80s with more horizontal break. He has four pitches but barely uses his changeup, and it showed in his platoon split, as he allowed a .431 OBP to lefties this year. It’s a circle-change that he throws with conviction but doesn’t land it enough for strikes or throw it enough to get hitters to lay off the fastball. He’s a strong 6-1 kid who could be a fourth starter if he develops that last pitch.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Massey hasn’t pitched since April 28 due to a bulging disc in his back, prior to which he’d made 10 starts for the Deacons but averaged just over three innings per outing and never threw more than 78 pitches in a game. He’s got an extremely short arm action and works up to 95 with a hard, downward-breaking slider, with a changeup he barely uses and some of the expected platoon split. He was pitching fairly well until mid-April, with three starts where he was ineffective — eight innings total, 10 walks, nine strikeouts, 10 runs allowed — before he hit the injured list. Someone will try to start him but this looks relieverish to me.

Position Player

4-Year College

RHP

Gregory-Alford is a UVA commit who pitches his home games at 6,000 feet above sea level, which I have always thought said something about a young pitcher — if you can pitch in that kind of forbidding environment, where no pitches break as much as they would anywhere else and every pop-up is a potential homer, you probably have something worth capturing, whether you call it toughness, confidence, feel, whatever. He’s been up to 97 and does have a pretty sharp 12/6 curveball, with good extension out front to help all his stuff play up, although his pitching arm can lag behind his plant foot. He's already 6-5, 235, so the Virginia commit doesn’t have a ton of projection ahead of him, instead needing to work on command and developing a changeup or splitter.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Levonas is committed to Wake Forest and has pumped it up to 97 this spring, sitting more 92-95, with good feel for an upper-80s changeup that has some late tumble and two breaking balls that blend together but both have tight rotation and sharp break. He has a big, exaggerated leg kick, and comes from a three-quarters slot but has to lean way over to get up to it, which makes it look like a lower three-quarters slot might be more natural for him.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Ager had an oblique strain in the fall and didn’t seem to be 100 percent this spring, losing his rotation job in mid-April when his ERA got up near 6, but he has been more effective in the bullpen, where he’s allowed just one run in 19 innings. He’s been up to 95 this spring but pitches more 90-92 with a short mid-80s slider that’s more vertical than horizontal, showing an occasional curveball that’s almost 12/6. It’s a good delivery and he throws strikes, which makes him seem like a good buy-low candidate for someone to take and return to the rotation.

Pitcher

4-Year College

RHP

Chatterton is an Auburn commit who was excellent last summer in shorter bursts, working 92-95 with run, feel to spin both breaking balls, and a changeup with very hard fading action, but everything backed up a bit this spring, 90-92 on the fastball and comparable drops on the other pitches. He’s a short right-hander with some effort to the delivery and may end up in college instead of signing.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Teams that rely on analytical models will probably love Miller, as the junior college transfer doesn’t strike out and has shown he can lift and drive the ball even without elite exit velocities, hitting 18 homers this year through the regular season with just 23 strikeouts and a whiff rate of 18 percent. He’s a below-average defender at third and may have to move to second or left field.

Position Player

4-Year College

3B

Green transferred to the Ramblin’ Wreck from NC State and started out very strongly in non-conference games, slumped midyear when ACC play began, but rallied to finish with a respectable .317/.390/.548 line within the conference, with average defense at shortstop. He’s probably a utility infielder in the end but if a move back to second base (where he played about 40 percent of the time in 2023) sees his defensive value jump, he could end up a regular.

Position Player

4-Year College

SS

Arrambide is very strong and offers future plus power that would make him a regular if he stays behind the plate. He’s got a very wide stance with no stride or even a toe-tap, so his timing isn’t great and he swings and misses way more often than he should, while behind the plate he’s got a cannon but gets mixed reviews on his receiving. He’s committed to LSU and as the spring progressed some scouts got the sense he’d prefer college to pro ball right now.

Position Player

High School

C

Brummel’s a projection guy at 6-4 who’s 90-94 right now with room to grow. He has a big-breaking curveball with tight spin and enough of a changeup to project him as a starter. He’s got a high arm slot that gives depth to the curve and has him really driving the fastball down when he finishes out front — which he doesn’t always do. He’s committed to Indiana.

Pitcher

High School

RHP

Volantis got much stronger this offseason and has gained 2-3 mph on his fastball, now working 90-92 with good command and a big-breaking 12/6 curveball. He comes from a very high slot, so he’s very north-south with everything, including a splitter he almost never used in high school. He reminds me of Tyler Skaggs at that same age, similarly projectable, with Volantis two inches taller than the late Skaggs was at the time of the draft. He’s committed to USC.

Pitcher

High School

LHP

Sterling’s stuff backed up a little this spring, as he’s sitting 89-90 and touching 92 when he was touching 94 and averaging closer to 92 before, with his changeup a plus pitch but his breaking balls are nothing special. His lower half needs to get a lot stronger and he has to use it more to generate some power to all of his pitches, which might be easier once he’s no longer playing shortstop regularly as well. He’s committed to Texas and could blossom there by focusing just on pitching and building some muscle.

Pitcher

High School

RHP