FORTH WORTH, Texas — The first two rounds of the 2024 MLB Draft came and went on Sunday, as the first 74 of the 615 total selections heard their names called at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Here are our seven biggest takeaways from the night:
Travis Bazzana goes first overall
In the end, the Cleveland Guardians took the best player available.
The Australian second baseman from Oregon State is an exhilarating offensive player. He has lightning-quick hands, which, alongside his short levers, allow him to turn and burn on velocity on the inner half of the strike zone. Built like a tank, Bazzana has a very discerning batting eye, the type of advanced approach that data-oriented teams love. He’s also an intense, fiery competitor who grew up playing a laundry list of sports during his childhood Down Under.
The biggest knock on Bazzana is his lack of defensive upside; he is the first second baseman ever taken first overall. In the end, though, Cleveland didn’t overthink things. Bazzana isn’t a generational No. 1 pick in the Bryce Harper or Paul Skenes mold, but he should develop into an impact big leaguer within the next few years. — Mintz
Chase Burns and Charlie Condon flip-flop at Nos. 2-3
Once Bazzana came off the board, the consensus in the industry was that Cincinnati wouldn’t pass up the chance to select Charlie Condon, the Golden Spikes Award winner from the University of Georgia who is coming off a historic spring in which he led the country in both batting average and home runs. The expectation was that the Reds were targeting hitters, with Condon near the top of their board, while Colorado picking third would be more intrigued by the top arms in the draft class, considering how rare it is for the Rockies to add premium pitching talent on the open market.
Or not!
As it turned out, it was the Reds who snagged the first pitcher off the board in Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns, suggesting that his spectacular arsenal and potential to be a legitimate frontline starter made it worth choosing him over an offensive anchor in Condon or one of the other highly accomplished college hitters on the board. That left Colorado in the unlikely position to select the top overall player on a lot of people’s boards at No. 3, leaving all of us to dream about what kind of numbers a fully actualized Condon could someday put up at Coors Field. It’s quite the bet on Burns by the Reds, and these two players’ careers will likely long be linked, considering how certain everyone was that each would end up in the other’s landing spot. — Shusterman
Jac Caglianone falls out of the top five
The Royals got the most famous player in the draft with Caglianone, who broke through to the mainstream thanks to his two-way dominance at the University of Florida. Caglianone was announced as a two-way player, but the expectation is that he will focus on hitting as a professional.
Maybe the Royals think he can pitch as well, but Cags was a top pick this year because of his immense ceiling as a hitter. He hit .419/.544/.875 with 35 big flies this year as the Gators made it to the College World Series for the second straight year. The bat speed, barrel control and raw juice are a rare combo, though there are big concerns about his tendency to chase beyond the zone. And while the Royals are going to try him in the outfield initially, Caglianone might be limited to first base in the future.
But don’t get it twisted: This is a huge injection of talent for a Kansas City farm system lacking upside. — Mintz
Nationals capitalize with three picks
The Nationals were a team of intrigue coming into the night after they traded reliever Hunter Harvey to Kansas City over the weekend in exchange for third-base prospect Cayden Wallace and the No. 39 pick on Sunday. We’ve seen teams trade competitive balance picks — the only draft picks eligible to be traded — a handful of times over the years, but it was unique to see a deal swung so close to Draft day. With that, Washington secured an additional Day 1 pick and more than $2 million of bonus pool money to spread among its 2024 class.
So what did Washington do with its three Day 1 picks? At pick No. 10, the Nats scooped up Seaver King, a tremendously athletic, right-handed hitter from Wake Forest who was announced as a shortstop but could play third base or even center field someday. His offensive potential is exciting if he can dial in his ultra-aggressive approach … a sentiment that also surrounds the player Washington selected with that No. 39 pick: Caleb Lomavita, a catcher from Cal who should stick behind the dish and is one of the more fun bats to watch in the entire class when he’s rolling. As with King, walks aren’t exactly Lomavita’s strong suit, and he will need to make some adjustments to sustain his production in pro ball.
Finally, Washington rounded out its Sunday haul with Luke Dickerson, a high school shortstop from New Jersey who garnered significant buzz over the course of the spring and was one of the last cuts from my top-50 prospect list. There is certainly some work to be done on the player development side with this crew, but the ingredients present are undeniably exciting. — Shusterman
Orioles stick to their strategy
Once again, Baltimore took position players with its first two picks, but the tandem of college hitters couldn’t be more different. UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt, drafted 22nd overall, has a toolshed of skills, including plus plus raw power and footspeed, but he struck out a boatload in college. University of Virginia shortstop Griff O’Ferrall (32nd) is a contact merchant with limited power potential. If you average their strikeout rate, it’s a normal-looking number. Also, this makes six drafts for the Mike Elias-led front office that has overseen the Orioles’ return to contention; they’ve taken a position player with their first-round pick every year.
It’s indicative of a very interesting strategy. The Birds are already facing a situation where they don’t have enough every-day spots at the big-league level for all their prospects, yet they continue to draft hitters. Why? Well, this organization knows it develops hitters better than any other in baseball. And because of injury risks, the value of a talented pitching prospect is inherently lower than the value of a talented hitting prospect. But established big-league pitchers can be acquired for a batch of hitting prospects, as the Orioles showed this winter in acquiring Corbin Burnes to lead their rotation.
Given the club’s track record, Honeycutt and O’Ferrall are good bets to develop into impact players, whether or not they ever play for the Orioles. This team knows what it’s good at and sees no reason to zag from the formula. — Mintz
Kellon Lindsey breaks through with Dodgers
For a high school player, the process of getting on the draft radar really accelerates the prior summer. The showcase circuit is how scouts see prep players and begin to develop opinions on them. It’s a useful environment to make assessments in large part because the quality of play is so much higher. And that means that whenever a kid, for whatever reason, doesn’t participate on the showcase circuit, he can fall through the cracks.
That’s what happened to Lindsey, who didn’t play on the circuit last summer after a minor leg issue. His absence — and his superb high school quarterback career — meant that scouts simply didn’t know too much about him before this spring. Which is when sensational reports started trickling in on the stupid-fast shortstop from middle-of-nowhere Florida. Lindsey is an outstanding athlete who will need some time to develop as a baseball player, but the Dodgers snagged a Trea Turner starter kit here. — Mintz
Braves secure two more talented left-handers
Six draft prospects were in attendance Sunday in Fort Worth, and the order in which they were selected was completely unexpected. Most notably, absolutely no one would’ve predicted that the sixth and final player to hear his name called in Round 1 would be Arizona high school left-hander Cam Caminiti, widely regarded as the best prep pitcher in the class and projected in nearly every mock draft to go somewhere between Nos. 10 and 15.
Instead, he dropped all the way to No. 24 with Atlanta, an outcome that might have been disappointing on the surface but appears to be a blessing in disguise, as Caminiti now joins an organization renowned for its ability to develop young arms. It’s also a team that boasts two of the best southpaws on earth in Chris Sale and Max Fried, whom Caminiti is surely eager to meet once he officially signs in the coming weeks.
Caminiti wasn’t the only promising left-hander the Braves took on Sunday either, as Atlanta used its second-round selection on Carter Holton from Vanderbilt. Holton is a talented arm who looked like a possible first-rounder at various points during his three years in Nashville but was inconsistent as a junior and carried enough health questions to fall out of the first 30 picks. At No. 62, though? Holton might make that pick look really good in the not-so-distant future. — Shusterman
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