Tuesday’s Winter Meetings in Nashville host the second annual MLB Draft Lottery (live on MLB Network at 5:30 p.m. ET), with 17 teams having varying chances of landing the first pick in the 2024 draft. Six teams receive the top half dozen picks and the rest of the first round takes shape.
Which players would these lottery winners like to choose? On a recent episode of the MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo broke down their top 20 college and top 20 high school player rankings and looked to reach the first 10 picks of the 2024 draft. It’s a college-heavy class, and of the players rated as potentially going in the top 10 of next July’s draft, nine came from that group.
1. JJ Wetherholt, INF, West Virginia
Mayo: “Incredible batsman. Won the batting title last year. Hitting almost .450. The power showed itself. Stole a lot of bases. I think he’ll go out in the spring and show he can play shortstop. He has previously played primarily second base. I don’t know if this might be splitting hairs with some of the other guys at the top of the college roster, but his ability to show he could handle a premier position kind of gave him a very slight edge over the (next guy). ) Guy.”
2. Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
Callis: “The interesting thing overall is that I don’t think there is a clear No. 1 pick in this draft. If Wetherholt doesn’t stick with Short, many of the top college guys don’t occupy top-tier positions, so it will be interesting to see how they do. There was only one college first baseman taken No. 1 overall, and that was Spencer Torkelson. Kurtz could join him. I think he has the best combination of impact and power in this draft. As a sophomore, he hit 24 home runs while walking more than he hit. He plays top-notch first base. He moves well enough [that] I think you could try him at outfield corner. Wake was obviously loaded last year. They took third place. They lost a tough extra-inning game in the semifinals to LSU, which went on to win the national championship, and had two first-rounders last year. This year there could be five. No team has ever had more than three.”
3. Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
Mayo: “He can really hit. There is power and speed. Stole a lot of bases. He hit .370 and batted .622 at Oregon State last year, then went to the Cape, won the batting title and MVP awards and had an OPS over 1.000. Last spring he walked more than he hit. He just seems to be getting better and better, and I think the combination of power and speed will continue to show at Oregon State this year and put him right here in that first-round range.”
4. Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
Callis: “He was third in Division I in strikeout rate last year (14.3 per nine innings). Tennessee [where Burns transferred from] had a strange year after their great year that came up short in Omaha. They were the best team in the country in 2022. Chase Dollander and Chase Burns had strange years and started supporting each other. They repeated the rotation later in the year, with Burns often replacing Dollander, who rarely went five innings during a strange spring last year. Wake has the pitching labs. But I don’t know if they’ll make Chase Burns better because he already has a 95-97 mph fastball that tops out at 102 and an 85-87 mph slider that our friends at Synergy generated a swing-and-miss rate of 61 percent last spring. He already has two of the best pitches in the country.”
5. Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
Mayo: “Two-way player in Florida. He’s really interesting, even if we’re not sure what he is. Most people like him as a batsman. There are holes on each side. He has a lot of power, but tends to chase a little. Big, huge lefty. On the mound he’s in the upper 90s and misses a lot of at-bats. However, there are some command issues. We’ll see what he is. 6-foot-5, 290 pounds. He’s a lot of fun. I think at least having a legitimate two-way player at this level is great for college baseball.”
6. Charlie Condon, 1B/OF, Georgia
Callis: “I still don’t fully understand why he didn’t play at all in 2022. He redshirted, then came out last year and is batting .386 with 25 homers and leads the SEC with a .800 slugging percentage and ties the U.S. college national team lead with three homers in 10 games. I guess I get guys who combine punching power with power, similar to Nick Kurtz. I don’t think he’s the defensive end…not that we’re going for first base defense early in the draft. Shoot, that means three of our first six picks here are first basemen. But these guys can all rake.”
7. Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa
Mayo: “I’ll roll the dice and say Brody Brecht will figure things out. In the draft, when a college arm with stuff like that starts to develop a little more command and feel, they skyrocket. He is extremely sporty. Earned a scholarship as a wide receiver but focused on baseball. Fastball reaches triple digits. Really nasty slider. If he had some polish I think he will step up. It’s a bit of a risky pick, but some of the bats on your list also had some question marks.”
8. Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
Callis: “I’ll roll the dice a bit too. I don’t want to take three first basemen… [Honeycutt] is difficult to find out. I truly believe he has the most upside physically of any player on this list. He is a potential five-tool center fielder. You can dream 20-20. You can dream maybe 30-30. He is the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He is definitely a midfielder. … As a freshman, he struck out 30 percent of the time; As a sophomore he got it down to 20 percent, so that’s good. But he also hit .257 with an OPS of .910. He didn’t do that much damage. He hit 12 home runs and had 19 steals. There’s a lot of talent in there. The bat? I think there’s a question.”
9. PJ Morlando, Summerville (NC) HS, OF
Mayo: “He can really hit and has a track record, probably as much if not more than anyone else in this class. He performs really well for Team USA in international competition. Left handed. Punch speed, lots of power. He’s probably a corner outfielder, but if he shows he can play center, that will help his profile and potentially move him further into the top 10. But I think he’ll really hit, and usually high school tends to go that way -Hitter with this type of profile to do well come draft time.”
10. Tommy White, 3B, LSU
Callis: “Probably going to end up at first base in the long run, so we’ve now drafted four first basemen in our top 10, which shows it’s a little bit of an unusual draft in that regard.” Tommy White is another guy who is not just a masher. He can hit [and] he strives for power. Last year, he transferred from NC State to LSU and helped win the national championship. Hit the game-winning home run in the semifinal game against Wake Forest. Batted .374 with 24 home runs. Led Division I with 105 RBIs. I just believe he will score.”