First look at the 2024 MLB Draft

An early look at some potential options in the first round, as well as some prep pitchers

About eight months away, Baseball America released its updated Top 100 for the 2024 draft. With that, I figured it was a good time to touch on the draft for the first time.

We will figure out where the Pirates will pick after the second-ever draft lottery during the Winter Meetings in a few weeks.

After winning the lottery last year and getting the first overall pick - taking Paul Skenes - the Pirates will only have a 3% of repeating and reaching the top spot again.

If everything falls into place and there are no surprises, they will select eighth overall, giving them their fifth straight draft where they have picked in the Top 10.

Draft impressions

Of the top five players on Baseball America’s board, two play second, two play first, and another is in the outfield. One of those first basemen, Jac Caglianone, is also one of the best pitching prospects in the draft.

It’s interesting to see that kind of positional breakdown at the top of the draft, as first and second-basemen don’t generally have the best value in this due to their position limitations.

While the 2023 draft had several names generating first-overall pick buzz, this class currently doesn’t have that one signature prospect. Even someone who has been as hyped as Caglianone has questions on the mound and at the plate.

Judging by going through the names and their scouting reports, there are some solid players in this class, although many carry serious questions they will have to answer at the pro level.

Prospects available at eighth overall

While we don’t know where the Pirates will pick, they would select eighth should everything fall as the odds say they should.

Looking at the 6-10 range on BA, here are a few notes on some names that may be available for the Pirates at that point.

Vance Honeycutt OF North Carolina

Had a 25/25 season as a freshman but had some strikeout concerns. He cut the swing and miss back some, but it hurt his overall production. So he’ll have to show he can do both and could jump into #1 overall contention if he does.

Chase Burns RHP Wake Forest

He seems to be a two-pitch guy and pitched a little better out of the bullpen last year, but Burns is hands down the best pitcher in the class.

I liked him out of high school in 2021, and he’s done nothing to change that for me. The question is whether or not you feel he can develop that third pitch to remain a starter in the pros.

Seaver King SS Wake Forest

He transferred from a DII school where he slashed .411/.457/.699 with 11 home runs and 13 stolen bases last year. They seem confident he can stay at shortstop, so it will depend on how he handles the step-up in competition at Wake Forest this year.

Braden Montgomery OF Texas A&M

He has a cannon for an arm, cut back on the strikeouts, and hit 17 home runs last year for Stanford. He bumped his walk rate from six to 16% in 2023.

Entering the 2024 season, he’s at the top of my board regarding realistic options for the Pirates.

Tommy White 3B LSU

The Pirates could land LSU Tigers back-to-back years by taking Tommy ‘Tanks.’ This draft has several college hitters that can pack a punch, and White is one of the best. He’s handled third in college but would likely shift to first at the next level, especially if taken by the Pirates.

Prep pitchers

The Pirates have taken at least one prep pitcher in the early rounds and given him an over-slot deal to sign with them in each of their drafts under Ben Cherington.

Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler, and Anthony Solometo were all former prep players and are among the Pirates’ best prospects, so they should be expected to follow suit come the 2024 draft.

They have also focused on acquiring pitchers that throw from lower arm slots, emphasizing horizontal approach, perhaps their way of gaining a competitive advantage.

I looked at the Top 100 for prep pitchers who mentioned a lower arm slot, and five names came up.

Joey Oakie, RHP

Anson Seibert, RHP

Ethan Schiefelbein, LHP

Ryan Sloan, RHP

William Kirk, LHP

As we progress in the draft process, these could be names to monitor as options for the Pirates.

Another name to watch

The Pirates have also gone college pitching heavy in the last couple of drafts, taking names like Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco, among others (outside the obvious Skenes).

One name outside the Top 50 that also fit the ‘lower arm slot’ criteria was Ryan Johnson out of Dallas Baptist. He struck out 116 batters in 87.1 innings last year, using his slider 52% of the time.

His delivery was described as ‘difficult to pick up low three-quarters slot.’